LEESBURG, Fla.—A Tavares motorcyclist was killed Saturday afternoon after a car pulled out of a Leesburg gas station and collided with him on U.S. Highway 441, according to Leesburg Police Department Capt. Joe Iozzi.
William Clough, 65, was riding a 2015 Harley-Davidson southbound on U.S. Highway 441 near Tomato Hill Road when Bettyrose Knittle, 88, of Fruitland Park, pulled out of RaceTrac and struck Clough around 5 p.m., Iozzi said.
Clough was seriously injured and transported by ground to UF Health Leesburg Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Traffic was diverted around crash for approximately three hours, according to Iozzi.
LPD traffic homicide investigators are investigating the crash and are asking witnesses to contact them at 352-787-2121.
LPD also worked a crash earlier in the day that involved two motorcycles that crashed into each other while trying to avoid a vehicle on U.S. Highway 27 near the Hawthorne at Leesburg neighborhood. Both riders were transported by air to local hospitals. The crash closed both the northbound and southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 27 for approximately 45 minutes, Iozzi said.
ASTATULA, Fla.—An Astatula Police Department corporal is suspended and under internal investigation following an arrest for domestic battery last week.
Erick Capraun, 50, who has been with APD since 2016, was arrested by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office after his girlfriend said he had been drinking and pushed her Thursday afternoon.
She told deputies when she walked into the house in unincorporated Leesburg, Capraun started yelling at her over financial issues and pushed her in the shoulder. The argument ensued and he reportedly said, “stupid (expletive) I’m going to lose my dog.”
Capraun did serve as a K9 handler for APD, but the dog has been retired since his arrest, APD Chief Wally Hoagland told Inside Lake. “It was time,” he said.
Capraun told LCSO that the victim was intoxicated, and they were arguing about her driving while she was drinking. He said she was on the phone with an unknown male and told him she was going to leave him for the unknown male and then she pushed him, and he pushed her back. She told deputies he pushed her and when asked if she pushed him back, she said, “no, not that I can remember.” Capraun was arrested and changed his story while he was in the back of the patrol vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Deputies have responded to the home multiple times, including just five days before Capraun was arrested, for a similar issue, the arresting deputy noted in the affidavit.
Capraun will remain suspended from APD until the conclusion of the internal investigation, Hoagland said.
LEESBURG, Fla.—A search warrant earlier this week took multiple guns and trafficking amounts of drugs off the street and landed a Leesburg man in jail whose criminal history dates back 26 years, according to an arrest affidavit.
Around 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Lake County Sherriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit (SIU,) LCSO SWAT, Homeland Security agents and detectives with Clermont, Eustis, Leesburg and Mount Dora police departments executed a search warrant at 2519 Myer Ave., Leesburg and found Walter Canady, 43, sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle in the driveway and 12 other people at the home.
Upon searching the home, detectives found a bedroom without a doorknob and locked with a deadbolt. After removing the deadbolt, LCSO found a cache of drugs, including about a pound of cocaine, 6 ounces of methamphetamine, 15 grams of fentanyl, 40 grams of MDMA, a small amount of marijuana, paraphernalia and seven firearms. When Canady was searched, deputies found numerous keys in his pocket, one that opened the deadbolt, the affidavit states.
Canady denied ever being in the home and said he had only been on the front screened patio, but detectives say that was a lie, as he was spotted exiting the home about five minutes before LCSO executed the search warrant.
Canady was arrested for armed trafficking of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA; possession paraphernalia; possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and five counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
Two other people were arrested at home in addition to Canady; Gabriella Partridge, 32, was arrested on a warrant for violation of probation, Rosa L. Taylor, 55, was arrested for a Sumter County warrant for grand theft and Taylor G. Estrill, 27, was issued a summons to appear in court for possession of drug paraphernalia.
LEESBURG, Fla.—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office quickly arrested a Leesburg woman early Saturday morning after a boy told his mother she inappropriately touched him while he was sleeping.
LCSO responded to a home in unincorporated Leesburg after the boy’s mom reported her son had called her “in a complete panic” and said he woke up to Anna Jackson, 38, rubbing his genitals and inner thigh, according to an arrest affidavit.
The boy, whose name is redacted because he is the victim of a sex crime, is between 12 and 15 years old, his exact age is also redacted. He told a deputy he was sleeping when he awoke to Jackson reaching under his clothes and touching his genital area. He said she got up and left the room but came back and began to touch him again. The boy said she only used her hands to touch him, and she touched him underneath his clothes.
He told her to stop, left the room and called his mom.
After speaking with the boy, deputies woke Jackson up and she said she had four to five small alcoholic drinks and did not remember anything except coming home and going to bed. Deputies questioned her about her sleeping habits, and she mentioned she had been single for a year, according to the affidavit. She also changed her story about the incident several times while being questioned.
Jackson was arrested for lewd and lascivious molestation and transported to the Lake County Jail, where she was released Monday on $10,000 bond.
LEESBURG, Fla.—Authorities have released the name of the man pronounced dead at a Leesburg gas station Friday and they do not believe his death was the result of foul play, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Dispatchers at Leesburg Police Department received a call from a person attempting to drive someone to the hospital Friday afternoon and they were instructed to pull over if they needed medical assistance, LCSO Cpl. Chanel Martin told Inside Lake Friday. Leesburg Police Department Capt. Joe Iozzi said investigators determined the incident began in LCSO’s jurisdiction and LCSO took over the investigation.
The driver pulled over at Wawa, 1400 North Boulevard, Leesburg and when EMS arrived, they pronounced John Michael Smith deceased, Martin said.
“The decedent, John Michael Smith, was turned over to the medical examiner’s office. There were no apparent signs of foul play, trauma, or a drug overdose,” Martin told Inside Lake. “He also had a medical history.”
SUMTER COUNTY, Fla.—The Florida Highway Patrol is searching for a gray or silver Honda Civic that intentionally rammed a motorcycle on Interstate 75 just after midnight Friday.
A 52-year-old Leesburg man was riding a motorcycle near mile marker 319 in a northbound lane and passed a commercial vehicle on the outside shoulder while the Civic passed in the center lane, according to FHP.
After the Civic and the motorcycle had passed the commercial vehicle, the driver of the Civic “abruptly steered to the outside shoulder and rammed the motorcycle intentionally,” FHP said in a press release.
Video of a road rage incident that sent a Leesburg motorcyclist to the hospital just after midnight Friday. VIDEO: Florida Highway Patrol
The impact caused the motorcycle to overturn several times into the wood line and the Civic fled the scene. The motorcyclist was seriously injured and transported to a local hospital for treatment.
FHP recovered car parts at the scene indicating the suspect vehicle was a 2020 Honda Civic. If you have information on the incident, call *FHP or Crime Stoppers at **TIPS.
Car parts found on the scene of a Sumter County road rage incident early Friday. The Florida Highway Patrol believes the parts belong to a 2020 Honda Civic. PHOTOS: Florida Highway Patrol
LEESBURG, Fla.—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a death that occurred Friday.
Dispatchers at Leesburg Police Department received a call from a person attempting to drive someone to the hospital and they were instructed to pull over if they needed medical assistance, LCSO Cpl. Chanel Martin told Inside Lake.
They pulled over at Wawa, 1400 North Boulevard, Leesburg and when EMS arrived, they found a person was deceased, Martin said. Leesburg Police Department Capt. Joe Iozzi said investigators determined the incident began in LCSO’s jurisdiction and LCSO took over the investigation. Martin said LCSO detectives and the medical examiner are on scene and the investigation is ongoing. At press time person’s identity had not been released and the cause of death was unknown.
TAVARES, Fla.—A father is in the Lake County Jail on no bond after being arrested for DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and operating a vehicle without a driver license causing death, stemming from a crash that killed his two young sons on Easter Eve in 2022.
David Shawn Pelfrey, 22, was picked up at his home in Fruitland Park on a warrant Thursday, nearly two years after the crash that killed his young sons, Damian and Dominic and seriously injured their younger brother Daylen.
Inside Lake spoke with the boys’ mom, Miranda Martin, by text Monday and she said Daylen is 3 years old now and doing well.
“Daylen is extremely smart, and the only visible scar left was the one on his head from the surgery he had to have but he’s been through a lot, he actually remembers his brothers and he talks about them often. If he’s asked where Damian and Dominic are he will say “they’re my angels in the sky” and that warms my heart,” she said,
Martin said the arrest has been a long time coming.
“I just want my boys to be remembered, I had to patiently wait for this day to come and for an arrest to be made. Throughout all the time that’s gone by I have had to overcome a lot mentally while (Pelfrey) lived his life like he wasn’t bothered, he’s never apologized and showed no remorse. My life was destroyed, and finally my children will get the justice they deserve and the attention they deserved since this happened. There will never be enough justice no matter what his sentence is because their lives are over. They’re not going to come back but now he has no choice but to sit in isolation and remember them and process that he was at fault for this and now I don’t feel like I carry the weight of the pain from their loss alone anymore,” Martin told Inside Lake.
“Damian was a very intelligent child and extremely mischievous and mature for his age, he loved (play) guns, and I would go as far as saying he was obsessed with them and had a collection of nerf guns, he was as much of a daddy’s boy as he was a mama’s boy. Dominic, he was my mini and a wholehearted mama’s boy, he loved dinosaurs and he thought he was a dinosaur we called him Dino-Dom. He was goofy and always happy and so destructive. My children were amazing boys, and they deserve to be remembered and I’m glad they’re finally getting justice.”
Photo courtesy of Miranda Martin
Shortly before 5:45 p.m. April 16, 2022, Pelfrey, who did not have a valid license, was driving a red 2011 Kia Optima westbound on State Road 46 near Wekiva Pines Road in Sorrento and passing vehicles in a no-passing zone, the Florida Highway Patrol said in 2022. The Kia entered the eastbound lane and the path of a blue 2011 Toyota Tundra pickup truck being driven by Carey David Duryea, of Lake Mary. Duryea took evasive action, according to witnesses, and traveled onto the south shoulder. Pelfrey traveled onto the same shoulder and struck the Tundra head-on, causing it to overturn and catch fire. The impact ejected Damian Pelfrey, 4, and his little brother, Dominic Shane Pelfrey, 2, from the Optima and they were both pronounced deceased on the scene. Their younger brother, Daylen Scott Pelfrey, then just 1 year old, was transported to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando.
Pelfrey, and another passenger, Justice Marie Lavery were transported to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital in Sanford along with Duryea, Natalio Ramirez Velazquez and Olinto Garcia. Aldrin Greeis Perez Rodriguez and Marvin Armando were transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares.
Witnesses told FHP Pelfrey was driving between 65 and 75 miles per hour and one witness said she could smell alcohol when she went to the car to check on the occupants following the crash, according to a probable affidavit.
Photo courtesy of Miranda Martin
Troopers later traveled to Sanford to speak to Pelfrey and obtain a blood sample and he refused. They obtained a search warrant for Pelfrey’s blood, and it was drawn twice, at 2:15 a.m. and 2:16 a.m. April 17, 2022—nearly nine hours after the crash. A test performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement revealed the presence of fentanyl, THC and hydromorphone in his system. That test did not show the presence of alcohol, but FHP secured a search warrant for medical blood taken at 7:59 p.m. April 16, 2022, about two hours after the crash. That blood sample, tested using enzymatic testing, showed Pelfrey had a blood alcohol level (BAL) of .135, more than 1.5 times the legal limit.
The sample was also sent to the University of Florida Pathology Laboratories, which used chromatograph testing. Its test showed Pelfrey’s BAL was .102 and did not show the presence of drugs.
A warrant was issued for Pelfrey’s arrest Jan. 14, and he was picked up at his home Thursday and transported to the Lake County Jail, where he is being held on no bond. Pelfrey is also facing a charge of kidnapping and battery in a separate case. That case remains open.
LEESBURG, Fla.—The woman accused of shooting two people in Leesburg last week is in custody after turning herself in to the Lake County Jail Sunday, according to Leesburg Police Department Capt. Joe Iozzi.
Ra’Niyah M. Benton, 20, is accused of shooting a male and a female in the 1000 block of Crosby Steet in Leesburg around 4 p.m. Thursday. The victims went to UF Health Leesburg hospital on their own and the male victim was later flown to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville as a precaution, Iozzi said last week. Their current conditions are unknown.
Benton is facing two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and is being held on no bond.
LEESBURG, Fla.—A Leesburg man is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond after shooting another man in unincorporated Leesburg late Monday night.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home on County Road 452 shortly before 11:30 p.m. Monday on a report of an argument between Brandon Saunders and Mike Ford, according to an arrest affidavit.
When deputies arrived, they found Ford lying on the ground suffering from two gunshot wounds and they began rendering aid to Ford, who was in and out of consciousness. He told deputies Saunders came after him and Ford “laid him out.” As he made his way back to his truck, Saunders began shooting at him.; Ford said he believed Saunders was trying to shoot him in the head. He was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center and is in stable condition, according to the affidavit.
While deputies were aiding Ford, Saunders came out of a tree line and “spontaneously” uttered he shot Ford, the affidavit states. Saunders, 41, was then searched and placed in the back of a patrol car.
A witness told deputies Ford came to the home upset and looking for his girlfriend and the witness was inside when the pair started arguing. The witness went outside, and Saunders handed her the gun, which she hid in the backyard. She gave deputies permission to enter the property and they located the gun. Two shell casings were also found at the scene. Ford’s girlfriend told deputies the couple had argued earlier and she went to the home on County Road 452 to stay with her friend.
Saunders, who was holding a beer can at the time of the incident and had the smell of alcohol on his breath, invoked his right to remain silent. Saunders is a three-time convicted felon and was arrested for attempted felony murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he remains on no bond.
