Around the County

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

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

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

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

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

EUSTIS, Florida—A Eustis man is in the Lake County Jail accused of masturbating while watching a young girl as her mother did laundry late Friday night, according to an arrest affidavit. Just before midnight Saturday morning, a woman called Eustis Police Department and reported a man was masturbating while looking at her daughter at Spin City, 320 Ardice Avenue, Eustis. The girl’s father told police he was sitting in his vehicle while his wife and daughter – who is only 8 years old – were inside doing laundry. He said his daughter was playing near the vending machines when he