TAVARES, Fla.—A young woman was airlifted to an area hospital after falling from the 8th floor of the Tavares parking garage Wednesday afternoon, according to Tavares Police Department.
TPD is on scene and still investigating, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan told Inside Lake.
“It’s too soon to tell if she jumped or fell,” Sullivan said.
TAVARES, Fla.—The two Tavares men reported missing have been found, according to Tavares Police Department.
Richard Weis, 85, and his brother-in-law Charles Constable, 67, were located in Miami and are alive and safe, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan told Inside Lake.
Update: Richard Weis, 85, and his brother-in-law Charles Constable, 67, were located in Miami and are alive and safe.
TAVARES, Fla.—Tavares Police Department is searching for two men who were last seen in Altamonte Springs around 1:30 p.m. Thursday, according to TPD Spokesperson Courtney Sullivan
Tavares residents Richard Weis, 85, and his brother-in-law Charles Constable, 67, are believed to be traveling in a grey 2019 Jeep Cherokee Limited with license plate Z7XKE and dark tinted windows and a “Sheriffs 2024” sticker on the driver side rear window.
Weis has undiagnosed dementia and is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 185 pounds and was wearing a green plaid shirt and possibly grey shorts.
Constable has been diagnosed with dementia and is also described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 185 pounds and was wearing a black sweatshirt with blue plaid pajama pants.
If you see Weis or Constable, call 911, or you have non-emergency information, call the Lake County Sheriff’s Office at 352-343-2101, option 4.
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.
TAVARES, Fla.—The man accused of stabbing a father and son Sunday was taken into custody Tuesday by U.S. Marshals, according to Tavares Police Department.
Daryl Shack, Jr., 34, is accused of stabbing Frederick “Lee” Crawford II, 55, and Frederick “Trey” Crawford, 30, around 2 p.m. Sunday. Both victims were airlifted to local hospitals for treatment and the elder Crawford is in critical condition and his son is in critical, but stable condition, TPD Spokesperson Courtney Sullivan told Inside Lake.
Shack fled the scene following the double-stabbing and TPD obtained a warrant for his arrest the same night. Shack agreed to turn himself in to the U.S. Marshals Tuesday at a gas station in Tavares. He was then turned over to TPD detectives for questioning, Sullivan said.
Police have not released a motive but said it was an “isolated incident between the victims and the suspect.”
“This is a perfect example of great police work,” Sullivan said. “We had a suspect identified and confirmed within hours and took quick action to take him into custody.”
Shack is facing two counts of attempted murder and is being held at the Lake County Jail on no bond.
TAVARES, Fla.—A father and son were both airlifted to local hospitals Sunday afternoon after being stabbed during an argument, according to Courtney Sullivan, Tavares Police Department Public Information Officer.
TPD responded to an “unknown medical call” in the 700 block of North Disston Avenue shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday. When they arrived, they found Frederick “Lee” Crawford II, 55, and Frederick “Trey” Crawford III, 30, suffering from stab wounds, and both men were airlifted for treatment.
“Lee” Crawford was in extremely critical condition at press time with life-threatening injuries and “Tray” Crawford was in critical condition, Sullivan said.
The suspect fled the scene and has not been identified publicly, “We are following leads and asking anyone with information to reach out,” Sullivan said. Police have not released a motive.
If you have information on today’s double stabbing, call TPD at 352-343-2101.
TAVARES, Fla.—Tavares Police Department is searching for a hit-and-run driver who fled the scene after striking a pedestrian Saturday night.
A man was crossing the street at State Road 19 and County Road 561 at 8:53 p.m., near McDonald’s, when a vehicle hit him, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan said. That vehicle stopped, but a second vehicle, believed to be a white Ford F-150 or an F-250, hit the man a second time and fled southbound on County Road 561, according to Sullivan.
The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries; his name has not been released.
If you have information on the driver who fled, call TPD at 352-343-2101.
TAVARES, Fla.—A Jacksonville man is being held in the Lake County Jail after being accused of stealing a vehicle from a business in Fruitland Park, fleeing from a Tavares Police Department officer and fighting that officer and another one last week.
Nigel Jaylen Sabb, 28, is accused of stealing a 2014 Ford Edge from Honest Autos, 2381 U.S. Highway 441, Fruitland Park around 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to a Fruitland Park Police Department arrest affidavit. A representative of the business told FPPD a customer dropped off the vehicle for some cosmetic repairs and left the keys in the exterior door lock and less than an hour later, Sabb walked onto the lot and stole the SUV.
The SUV, equipped with a GPS tracker, was traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 441 and FPPD alerted Tavares Police Department and Eustis Police Department it was headed their way. Just before 9:45 a.m. a TPD officer spotted the vehicle traveling southbound and he performed a U-turn to get a better look at the tag, according to a TPD arrest affidavit.
Sabb began driving recklessly, changing lanes multiple times, failing to yield to oncoming traffic and nearly causing several crashes. TPD attempted to pull Sabb over and he began to swerve across all southbound lanes while moving around in the vehicle.
The TPD officer then deactivated his lights and made a U-turn to show the driver he was not pursuing the SUV, the affidavit states. Sabb then swerved across all three southbound lanes, jumped a median, drove into oncoming traffic and hit a vehicle head-on, according to the affidavit.
The officer reactivated his lights, pulled up to the crash and exited with his gun drawn; Sabb exited the SUV through the front passenger door and fled on foot. He was wearing dark clothing and carrying an object believed to be a backpack. The officer holstered his firearm and drew his taser as he began to chase Sabb. He deployed the taser and it struck Sabb’s clothing but did not incapacitate him and he continued to run. TPD lost Sabb around 2100 Lake Eustis Drive and then spotted him again wearing different clothing and walking near Joy Lane in the Lake Point Mobile Home Park; the officer also noticed he was no longer carrying anything.
The officer began following Sabb as a second officer pulled up as backup. Sabb saw the officer’s patrol vehicle and began running and both officers began chasing him. The first officer took a different route in an attempt to cut Sabb off while the backup officer stayed on Sabb. The backup officer later got on the radio and “in a manner that was partial and unclear…advised that (Sabb) was fighting him. It was apparent (the officer) was involved in a struggle,” the TPD officer wrote in the affidavit.
The officer could not immediately find Sabb and the backup officer and could not reach him on the radio. He finally heard the pair scuffling and located them behind a home on Douglas Drive and saw the backup officer struggling to gain control of Sabb’s hands. The officers were able to get Sabb under control after another scuffle and the threat of being tased. He was medically cleared and transported to the Lake County Jail.
The backup officer later said Sabb either punched him or hit his head on something and took his radio off his vest, depriving him of means to communicate with other officers and dispatch and the officer sustained head injuries as a result of the fight, according to the affidavit. Sabb is facing numerous charges from TPD, including battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, two counts of resisting arrest without violence, depriving an officer of means of communication and reckless driving, in addition to grand theft auto and burglary from FPPD. He is being held on no bond.
Prior history
In June 2017, Sabb was arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office after he pointed a loaded gun at a JSO officer who pulled him over while driving a stolen car. In 2018, he was arrested in St. Johns County for another 2017 crime, this one committed when he was just 20 years old. In that case, Sabb was accused of tying two men and a woman up during a Ponte Vedre Beach home invasion, forcing the woman to perform oral sex on him at gunpoint, ransacking the home, stealing cash and other belongings and stealing a car. DNA from the sexual battery connected Sabb to the crime. Sabb spent around a year in the St. Johns County Jail until the charges were dropped about month before the case was set to go to trial. It is unknown why the charges were dropped.
TAVARES, Fla.—A joyride in a stolen SUV did not last long for a Tavares man early Wednesday morning when Tavares Police Department apprehended the man less than 15 minutes after he stole it, according to a report.
Just before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, a woman reported that while she was feeding cats at Circle K, 439 South Duncan Drive, an unknown black male jumped out of a tan SUV and hopped into her red 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and drove off. TPD responded to the scene and officers began canvassing the area, along with officers from Astatula Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
Less than15 minutes later, a TPD corporal spotted the Tahoe parked in a field off Lona Street and saw a man, later identified as Trevon Marques Williams, 27, walking toward him. He ordered Williams to stop, and he fled on foot. The TPD corporal deployed his taser and struck Williams in the back, causing him to fall on a plastic chair and then on his back, the report states.
A group of people then showed up on the scene and they were detained while officers completed their investigation. The woman driving the tan SUV Williams jumped out of at Circle K was among those detained; she told officers she picked Williams up from Rosewood Apartments and took him to the store to buy blunts. She said he got out of her vehicle and jumped in the Tahoe and left. Inside Lake is not naming her because she was not charged with a crime.
Williams denied stealing the Tahoe and when the victim arrived on scene to retrieve her vehicle, she told police her phone and $135 was missing from the console. When Williams was searched, he was found with the money in the same denominations the victim described to police, according to the report. Her phone was found lying in the middle of Lona Street.
Williams was arrested for grand theft of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and petit theft. He was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he is being held on $4,500 bond.
MOUNT DORA, Fla.—A man who was a victim of a shooting, has pleaded no contest to a charge of filing a false report after Mount Dora Police Department determined he and his ex-girlfriend lied about the location where he was shot in November, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Around 3:30 p.m. Nov. 13, shots rang out at Rosewood Condominiums in Tavares, terrifying parents and a school bus full of children that had pulled into the parking lot; Rosewood has been the site of several shootings and violent crimes in recent years.
“This occurred during a time frame when children were being dropped off,” Tavares Police Department Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan told Inside Lake in November. “This is a residential neighborhood.”
TPD responded to the scene and began searching for a victim and evidence and while they were investigating, Amarion Saucier, 21, showed up at AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares with his then-girlfriend, Josey Neat, 21. Saucier was suffering a gunshot wound to the buttocks.
Saucier and Neat told TPD Saucier was shot at Cauley Lott Park in Mount Dora and TPD requested Mount Dora Police Department’s assistance. A lieutenant with MDPD checked footage from cameras mounted in Cauley Lott Park and found no indication a shooting occurred there.
“In fact, children were observed playing on the swings, riding scooters and playing basketball within the 50-minute time frame of the recording,” an MDPD detective noted in the affidavit. “It is clear there was no shooting incident at the intersection of Highland Street and Pine Avenue inside Cauley Lott Park.”
The MDPD detective responded to the hospital to interview Saucier and Neat and when he arrived a TPD captain told him he warned the couple they could be arrested for giving a false statement to law enforcement, the affidavit states.
Tavares Police Department responds to a shooting at Rosewood Condominiums in November. Courtesy photo
Saucier and Neat told the detective the shooting did occur at Cauley Lott Park when he interviewed them separately. He told Neat the video surveillance from Cauley Lott Park did match her story and, “she insisted her story was true,” the affidavit states.
A warrant was issued for both Saucier and Neat Nov. 16, 2023, for false information to a law enforcement officer and they were picked up two months later on Jan. 16 when Neat called the police on Saucier. In that incident, she told MDPD she went to her now ex-boyfriend Saucier’s apartment in Spring Harbor Apartments in Mount Dora with her brother and another woman to get a phone for her daughter. Neat said the pair got into a verbal alteration and Saucier threatened to shoot her vehicle several times, though she did not see a weapon. Saucier then broke her window trying to get to Neat’s brother, according to Saucier’s arrest affidavit in that case.
When officers ran their names, they found Neat and Saucier had warrants and they were both taken into custody. Neat was released the following day on $1,000 bond. Saucier, was arrested for an additional charge of burglary for breaking the window and has since pleaded no contest to the false information charge. He is currently serving his sentence in the Lake County Jail; the burglary case remains open.
TPD continues to investigate the November shooting.
