Leesburg

LEESBURG, Florida –A Leesburg man was nabbed at a local sub shop early Saturday morning after a passerby reported seeing him throwing rocks at the restaurant, according to an arrest affidavit. Leesburg Police Department responded to Subway, 1320 South 14th Street, Leesburg at 3:12 a.m. after someone reported seeing a man, later identified as Frederick Charles McPherson, throwing rocks at the shop and breaking the windows. When LPD arrived at the restaurant, an officer observed two large windows and both front doors smashed out, with a shirtless McPherson on the scene. McPherson was detained and the officer found several rocks

LEESBURG, Florida—A former employee of an assisted living facility is behind bars on 17 charges after a Leesburg Police Department investigation revealed she was stealing from several residents at the facility, according to a probable cause affidavit. LPD began investigating in August when the executive director of Vista Assisted Living, 700 South Lake Street, Leesburg, reported a 93-year-old resident was missing a ring from her room. The victim told police Angelique Sinceria Daniels, 24, was assisting her when Daniels told the victim she needed to attend a meeting. The victim left the room but returned shortly after when she found

9:30 a.m. Update: The officer’s leg is broken. He was assisting a female officer who was trying to detain a Baker Act patient who was running in and out of traffic on U.S. Highway 27 near Palm Plaza, according to Leesburg Police Capt. Joe Iozzi. LEESBURG, Florida—A Leesburg Police Officer was injured Friday, and may have a broken leg, according to Leesburg Police Department Capt. Joe Iozzi. Numerous people saw the officer down during rush hour traffic Friday morning. “An officer was injured fighting with a Baker Act (patient.) He may have a broken leg,” Iozzi told Inside Lake. The

LEESBURG, Florida—Leesburg Police Department and the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office has charged a man in the murder of a Leesburg woman earlier this month, according to LPD Capt. Joe Iozzi. Alphonza Bryant, 40, also of Leesburg, is facing three charges, including first degree murder, armed burglary and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Bryant has been in the Lake County Jail since Aug. 10—two days after the murder—for a violation of probation stemming from a battery case in April. On Aug. 8, LPD responded to a home on Penn Street after someone reported that they believed

LEESBURG. Florida—Leesburg Police Department is investigating the death of a 37-year-old woman who was found shot early Monday morning, according to LPD Capt. Joe Iozzi. Someone called LPD and said they believed their friend was dead and when LPD officers arrived at the home in the 1200 block of Penn Street at 2:39 a.m. they found a black female deceased in a converted laundry room, Iozzi said in a press release. The woman appeared to have been shot and LPD detectives responded to the scene and are treating the death as a homicide; the investigation remains active. If you have

LEESBURG, Florida—The burglar shot by a Leesburg homeowner Monday has been identified. Jeffrey Scott Garrard, 55, of Leesburg, was shot Monday morning when he and another man—still on the loose—attempted to enter a home on Flora View Lane, Leesburg Police Capt. Joe Iozzi said in a press release. Garrard was transported to a local trauma center when he remains in ICU and has not been able to speak to detectives, Iozzi said. His partner in crime fled the scene; he is described as a white male, 5’8” to 5’9”, with a slim build. He was wearing a black hoodie and

LEESBURG, FLORIDA—Two would-be burglars got more than they bargained for Monday morning when one of them was shot by the homeowner they were trying to steal from, according to Leesburg Police Department. Two men entered a residence on Flora View Lane and the homeowner opened fire, shooting one of them, an LPD Facebook post stated Monday. The suspect was taken to a local trauma center for his injuries and the second suspect fled.  The homeowner was not injured. LPD established a perimeter for the second suspect, who is described as a white male, 5’8” to 5’9” with a slim build,

LEESBURG, Florida—A man who put his 6-year-old son on his lap and allowed him to steer his vehicle right into a light pole was arrested Friday for child abuse and no driver license, according to an arrest affidavit. Josue Suarez-Zeledon, 38, told Leesburg Police his 6-year-old asked him if he could drive around 3:30 p.m. Friday. Suarez-Zeledon pulled over near the intersection of South Street and South Lone Oak Drive and put his son on his lap, the affidavit states. Suarez-Zeledon was controlling the gas and brake pedals while the boy was steering, he told police. The vehicle began traveling

LEESBURG, Florida—A Leesburg couple’s shower was interrupted last week when their dog alerted them to a woman in their home who was armed with a kitchen knife, according to an arrest affidavit. Leesburg Police responded to an apartment on Birchwood Court around 6:40 a.m. June 1 on a report of a burglary. When they arrived, they found Jayla L. Tart, 19, who lives in the same apartment complex as the victims, sitting on the couch yelling obscenities at police, clutching the knife with both hands, according to the affidavit. Police tried to calm the situation and Tart finally threw the

LEESBURG, Florida—A woman temporarily staying with a man in Leesburg slashed him with a pocketknife last week when he came back to the apartment they were sharing to make sure she moved out, according to an arrest affidavit. Meghan Simpson Borsher, 49, was arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after her roommate told Leesburg Police Department, she slashed him in the arm with the knife when he demanded she leave the apartment. The man told LPD he moved his belongings out of the apartment on Washington Street May 31 and came back the following day to make sure

LEESBURG, Florida—A Leesburg man was killed in a single vehicle crash Saturday night, according to Leesburg Police Capt. Joe Iozzi. A witness told LPD, a 2011 Hyundai SUV being driven by Douglas Crews, was southbound on U.S. Highway 27 near Corley Island Road, when it hit a curb, overcorrected and rolled over several times, Iozzi said in a press release. Crews was ejected and pronounced dead on the scene. The crash closed a section of the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 27 for about six hours Saturday night and remains under investigation.

LEESBURG, Florida—A Leesburg High School student was arrested Friday after he was found with a loaded gun in his backpack at school, according to an arrest affidavit. A teacher and an assistant principal responded to a classroom to assist a substitute teacher with three students who were possibly smoking a nicotine device around 9 a.m. Friday. The teacher and the AP removed the trio from the classroom and began walking them to an office and they were asked if they had anything they should not have; they submitted to a search, according to the affidavit. The teacher searched a 16-year-old

LEESBURG, Florida—A North Carolina man was killed Friday after a Lexus collided with the Cadillac he was driving, according to Leesburg Police Capt. Joe Iozzi. The preliminary investigation revealed Kenny Ray Amdahl, 69, of Hubbard North Carolina, was northbound on U.S. Highway 27/441 at Tally Road in a gold 1988 Cadillac when a silver 2019 Lexus being driven by Terrance Raghoonauth, 29, of Lauderdale, swerved into Amdahl’s lane, colliding with the Cadillac, Iozzi said in a press release. The Cadillac caught fire and Amdahl was pronounced dead on the scene, Iozzi said. Witnesses are encouraged to call LPD’s Traffic Unit

DeLAND, Florida—A little more than a week after a devastating crash that killed two unrestrained Leesburg children; two more Leesburg children were found unrestrained in a car that was reportedly speeding in DeLand at nearly 100 miles per hour. Shortly after 12:30 a.m. Monday, two Volusia Sheriff’s Office deputies spotted a white Chevy Impala traveling 57 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour zone. VSO started to apprehend the car and its speed increased to 70 miles per hour before turning onto International Speedway Boulevard and accelerating to 91 miles per hour in a 50 miles per hour

LEESBURG, Florida—The third time was not the charm for a Leesburg man who passed out in a Wendy’s drive-thru in February and was arrested Wednesday for his third DUI in relation to the incident after toxicology reports came back showing he had a .378 blood alcohol content—more than four times the legal limit. On Feb. 26, shortly after midnight, Leesburg Police responded to Wendy’s, 914 North 14th Street to assist EMS with an unresponsive driver in the drive-thru. When officers arrived, they found Reddick Williams III, unresponsive in the driver’s seat of the grey Hyundai, that was on and in

LEESBURG, Florida—A 77-year-old Leesburg man was killed Tuesday after he crashed into a tree at a local pharmacy, according to Leesburg Police Capt. Joe Iozzi. The man was driving a 2004 Honda Civic eastbound on State Road 44 shortly before 2 p.m. Tuesday, when he left the roadway for an unknown reason and crashed into a tree at Walgreens, 901 South 14th Street. The man was transported to UF Health Leesburg and later airlifted to a trauma center, where he succumbed to his injuries. The man’s identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin, Iozzi said. No

LEESBURG, Florida—A daycare inspector is behind bars and facing 11 counts of possessing child pornography after his wife discovered his stash and turned him in, according to an arrest affidavit. Keith Alan Wilkins, 61, is in the Lake County Jail on $55,000 bond after the Lake County Sheriff’s Office searched his home acting on the tip from his wife. According to the affidavit, Wilkins’ wife discovered her husband pleasuring himself last month and “decided to look around,” she wrote in a statement to LCSO. She found a thumb drive containing child pornography in a drawer and found a bag in

LEESBURG, Florida—A 34-time convicted felon has been arrested in a baseball bat attack that sent a man to the hospital in December. According to a probable cause affidavit, Leesburg Police responded to UF Health Leesburg on Dec. 13 to meet with victim who told them he was in the 2100 block of Harlem Avenue when a man he knew as “Hollywood Swag,” approached him. He said, “Hollywood Swag,” identified several months later as Rodney Lamar Woods, had made numerous attempts to fight him and he was trying to avoid it. The victim started to walk away, and Woods started running

LEESBURG, Florida—A man who admitted to police he stabbed a woman with a machete last week because he was tired of her “(expletive) talking,” is being held in the Lake County Jail on $10,000 bond. Leesburg Police responded to the city’s bicycle trail near the 900 block of Stinson Street on a report of a stabbing, shortly before 10 a.m. Feb. 18. The victim told police she was stabbed with a machete by Kenneth Eugene Hicks, 42, of Eustis, during an argument over ongoing issues and her refusal to allow him to use her illegal drugs, according to an arrest