Eustis

EUSTIS, Florida—A 28-year-old man is being held in the Lake County Jail on $5,000 bond after video surveillance showed him grabbing an elderly man and attempting to punch him at a Eustis grocery store Thursday afternoon., according to an arrest affidavit.

The victim, 81, told Eustis Police Department that a man, later identified as Jason David Payne, of Eustis, came into Winn-Dixie, 1995 North State Road 19 around 5 p.m. Thursday, “acting strange.” Payne was in and out of the store yelling and then threw down a display rack that struck the victim’s wife’s foot, the victim told police.

The victim confronted Payne, and Payne grabbed him and swung at him, but the man ducked and Payne struck a counter, cutting his hand, the victim told EPD; the store’s video surveillance backed up the victim’s story. Payne left the store in a tan Honda CRV and a Winn-Dixie employee captured a photo of the license plate, the affidavit states.

The SUV was registered to a woman on Orange Avenue in Eustis and when EPD went to the home they found the vehicle and Payne. He was arrested for battery on a person over 65 and transported to LCJ.

EUSTIS, Florida—The man accused of attempting to rape a woman at a Eustis massage business was bitten by a Lake County Sheriff’s Office K9 and taken into custody just hours after the crime, according to Eustis Police Department Capt. Dave Carney.

Surveillance video from a nearby business clearly showed the license plate of the vehicle the suspect was driving, and he was quickly identified as Timothy Paul Taylor, 35, by EPD. They went to his last known address in Eustis and neighbors told police he moved to Palmetto Street. Officers arrived at the home he shares with his mother and the vehicle used in the crime was in the driveway, Carney said. Taylor’s mother said he walked off in the woods and Carney called for assistance from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, including a K9 deputy and handler and LCSO’s helicopter, Eagle One. Multiple people called in to EPD and reported seeing Taylor running through several streets.

“He was going through people’s yards, jumping fences. The bird (Eagle One) finally found him,” Carney said.

Taylor was found hiding in heavy vegetation off Selleen Drive and refused to come out when ordered, Carney said, and an LCSO K9 was sent into the brush to apprehend him. Taylor was bitten several times and taken into custody. At press time, he was receiving treatment for the bites at a local hospital.

Taylor is accused of entering the back door of A-1 Massage and Spa, 1316 South Bay Street, and asking for a sex act Thursday morning, Carney said. The female victim told Taylor they did not perform sex acts and he pulled his pants down, grabbed her by the hair, put what police believe may have been a BB gun to her head, pulled his pants down and demanded the sex act. She told him no, he let go and told her he would come back and kill her if she called the police, Carney said.

The victim fled out the front door while Taylor fled out the back door to a black sedan. He popped the hood on the vehicle, closed it and then fled out of the parking lot onto Bay Street, Carney said. Police believe he may have put the gun under the hood of the vehicle before fleeing; a citizen found a BB gun nearby and called EPD; police believe it was the gun used in the crime, Carney said.

Taylor was arrested for attempted aggravated sex battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. EPD detectives are requesting Taylor be held on no bond, Carney said.

EUSTIS, Florida—Eustis Police Department is searching for an armed man, accused of assaulting and battering a woman at massage business Thursday morning.

A “younger” white male, approximately 5 feet 7 inches, wearing tan pants, a black hoodie, a red medical mask and armed with a gun entered the back door of A-1 Massage and Spa, 1316 South Bay Street, Thursday morning, EPD Capt. Dave Carney told Inside Lake.

He pulled his pants down, grabbed a female employee by the hair, put the gun to her head, pushed her head down and demanded a sex act. The woman was able to break free and run out the front door while the suspect ran out the back door to a black sedan. He popped the hood on the vehicle, closed it and then fled out of the parking lot onto Bay Street, Carney said, EPD detectives are interviewing the victim, but there is a language barrier. Surveillance video from a nearby business captured him on camera.

The suspect is facing multiple charges, Carney said,

This is a developing story.

EUSTIS, Florida—Eustis Police Department is investigating a crash that sent a vehicle into a ditch near David Walker Drive and U.S. Highway 441 Sunday morning.

Yash Patel told Eustis Police Department he was traveling down U.S. Highway 441 when a vehicle pulled out in front of him from the 7-Eleven/Dunkin Donuts exit, and he swerved to avoid it. He lost control, crashed through the guardrail and went down the embankment. He was not injured.

He told EPD the other vehicle fled towards Tavares, and a description of the vehicle was not available. If you have information on Sunday’s crash, call EPD at 352-357-4121.

ORLANDO, Florida—A fundraiser has been created for the elderly man who was airlifted following a head-on collision in January at a Eustis intersection notorious for crashes.

A 19-year-old Leesburg man was driving a Dodge Ram south on County Road 452 when he attempted to make a left turn on County Road 44 and turned into the path of a black Toyota sedan being driven by Bernard Perry, 71, of Zellwood around 6:30 a.m. Jan. 19. The front of the truck struck the front of the sedan, seriously injuring Perry and he was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center, Eustis Police Department Capt. Jon Fahning told Inside Lake in January.

The driver of the Dodge told EPD he believed he had a green arrow when he made the turn, but a witness said it was a solid green light and the witness did not believe the driver of the Dodge had enough time to make the turn.

According to a gofundme organized by Perry’s son, Damion Perry, the crash left Bernard Perry paralyzed from the shoulders down.

“Our family has created this page to raise funds to help support Bernard in his journey to rehabilitation. The funds raised from this page will help him receive additional medical, rehabilitation and other supports. Our family’s goal is to ultimately relocate my father back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he will be able to receive the more immediate attention of our family’s support,” Damion Perry stated on the fundraising page.

The fundraiser had collected more than $2,600 of its $75,000 goal at press time; to donate visit Bernard Perry Car Accident Medical