TAVARES, Fla.—Tavares Police Department has released the names of the two men involved in a deadly single-car crash early Saturday morning.
TPD believes Anthony Petchonka Jr., 24, of Tavares was driving a 2003 black Acura coupe when he crashed shortly before 2:30 a.m. near the intersection of Dead River Road and Baytree Boulevard. The impact ejected Petchonka Jr., and his passenger Jordan Debitetto, 22, of Astatula.
Inside Lake originally reported Debitetto was from Apopka, as listed on his driver license, but TPD has since discovered he lives in Astatula, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan said. Petchonka Jr. was pronounced deceased on the scene and Debitetto was transported to an area hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
TAVARES, Fla.—A Tavares man was killed in a single-car crash early Saturday morning and his passenger is in critical condition at a local trauma center, according to Tavares Police Department.
TPD traffic homicide investigators responded to the scene near Dead River Road and Baytree Boulevard overnight and TPD released preliminary information Saturday morning. TPD believes the 2003 black Acura coupe being driven by a 24-year-old Tavares man was traveling on Dead River Road when it crashed shortly before 2:30 a.m. Saturday, ejecting both the driver and his 22-year-old male passenger of Apopka.
The crash killed the Tavares man, and the Apopka man is in critical condition, TPD Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan told Inside Lake. There were no witnesses to the crash. A portion of Dead River Road remained closed at press time and officers are rerouting traffic in the area.
TAVARES, Fla.—Tavares Police Department is investigating after finding a man shot who they believe was attempting suicide in a vehicle in the parking lot of AdventHealth Waterman Friday.
Shortly before 1:15 p.m. Friday, Lake County Dispatch received a 9-1-1 text message that included the location of AdventHealth Waterman and a vehicle description, Tavares Police Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan told Inside Lake. When asked if the subject needed police, fire or an ambulance, the subject replied, “whomever,” she said.
TPD located the vehicle and found a male suffering from a gunshot wound.
“Officers performed life-saving measures on the male who was subsequently transported to a local trauma center,” Sullivan said. “Preliminary assessment of evidence on the scene leads detectives to believe the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.”
Detectives are currently on scene, and at press time the man was still receiving medical treatment. His name has not been released. If you are struggling or having suicidal thoughts, help is available by calling the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline on your cell phone at 9-8-8.
TAVARES, Florida—More than a year after a beloved local musician was killed in a hit-and-run crash, the driver pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and was sentenced to five years in prison Monday.
Inside Lake was in the courtroom when Justin Thomas Flower, 39, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the crash that killed Robert “Bobby” Wilson July 23, 2022. Flower was originally charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash causing death in November 2022, but as part of his plea agreement, the manslaughter charge was dropped, and he pleaded guilty to the remaining charge.
He was sentenced to five years in prison and must serve a minimum of four years but will get credit for the nearly four months he served following his arrest in November 2022; Flower was held on no bond in the Lake County Jail until the bond was reduced to $5,000 in late April, and as a condition of his bond he was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor. Flower will also lose his driver license for five years after he is released from prison.
Wilson’s mother, Valerie Newman and his son, Justin Wilson attended the hearing, but decided not to speak. Newman was visibly emotional as the charge and agreement was read in open court. She shared the statement she planned to read Monday with Inside Lake, and we chose to publish it in its entirety.
This is a heartbreaking day for me today. Part of me did not want to give any kind of a statement. But my heart needs to give a statement. I guess I just don’t understand why we even should be here. You and my son were friends, I thought. I just can’t understand, cannot comprehend, how you could be speeding down that road, hit and kill him, then drive away as if nothing ever happened. As if his life was worthless. But you did. But you need to know, his life was not worthless. Not only to his family, but to the hundreds, thousands, of people who have contacted us with broken hearts. He was precious to me, to his brother, to his stepfather, and to his children and grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. You will go to prison now. Sadly, if you hadn’t left him, you wouldn’t be. If you had stayed and called 911 immediately, his life might have been saved. But we will never know. I want you to know, however, that I do forgive you. I will pray for you. I will pray that you have an experience with God that will cushion you and guide you through the next few years. So that at some point in your life you can help to guide other young people into making the right decisions for their lives. I want Bobby’s life to be valuable and cherished. I want people to remember not only his music, but the amazing love he had for all of his friends, including you. – Valerie Newman
Robert “Bobby” Wilson was killed by a hit-and-run-driver in July 2022.
On July 23, 2022, Robert “Bobby” Wilson, 50, was attempting to push his minivan off a curb on Old U.S. Highway 441 across from Dairy Queen in Mount Dora when good Samaritan Michael Dickey saw him and stopped to help.
“I thought, man, somebody is going to hit him,” Dickey told Inside Lake earlier this year, “and I’ll be damned if what I thought happened.
Wilson’s tire could not gain any traction and after unsuccessfully trying to push the minivan off the curb, Dickey suggested they use his truck, a Nissan Frontier. Dickey had a flashlight in his hand and was starting to attach a strap to the minivan when the white 2015 Hyundai Genesis Flower was driving came speeding down Old U.S. Highway 441.
The Hyundai came straight at them, Dickey jumped out the way and the car struck Wilson first throwing him several feet, then struck the back end of Wilson’s minivan and finally Dickey’s truck, hitting it with such force, it spun around. All three vehicles were totaled.
All three vehicles involved in the crash that killed Robert “Bobby” Wilson were totaled. PHOTOS: Michael Dickey
Wilson was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center after the crash, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later determined Wilson died from a skull fracture and brain bleed caused by the crash.
Flower fled the scene and managed to drive the mangled Hyundai about a half of a mile down the road. He got out of the car and, “He was pacing around and around,” Dickey told Inside Lake. Two unidentified women stopped to help him, and he reportedly told them he was fine, and “There’s a bad accident down there you need to go the other way.” The women continued toward the crash site, Dickey said, and “suddenly he (Flower) was gone,” but he left the disabled Hyundai in the middle of the road.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Mount Dora Police Department contacted the registered owner of the Hyundai and she said she lent the car to Flower and Flower was at a home on Morningside Drive, less than a mile from the crash site. MDPD spoke with Flower, and he said he struck a dog that jumped into the roadway. He claimed to have no memory of the crash and woke up the following morning at the home on Morningside Drive wondering how he got there. During later questioning Flower admitted to drinking “a beer and a shot” prior to the crash, the affidavit states.
Nearly three months later, a warrant was issued for Flower’s arrest, and he ran to Jackson County, North Carolina, Wilson’s daughter Emily Lowe told Inside Lake in January. He was apprehended in North Carolina in late November and extradited to Lake County Dec. 30 after he spent more than a month in jail in North Carolina, according to Lake County Clerk of Court online records. He was held in LCJ until he bonded out in April and was taken back into custody Monday after his plea.
TAVARES, Fla.—The Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests of five people Monday who are accused of traveling with the intent to have sex with a juvenile earlier this month.
“After unknowingly talking online with an undercover detective, the subjects traveled to a predetermined location with the intent to have sex with a child. All suspects were taken into custody upon arrival,” LCSO said in a statement.
The suspects are:
Musa Sawaneh, 25, who traveled from Temple Terrace.
Jason Spencer, 40, who traveled from Tavares.
Kahlil Amilivia Rodriguez, 25, who traveled from Groveland.
Bhaveshkuma Vekaria, 45, who traveled from Orlando.
Nahuel Benjamin Hurtado Humeres, 20, who traveled from Dundee. Humeres is a Chilean citizen and is being for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
SORRENTO, Fla.—Only Inside Lake reported on a search warrant that was executed on a home connected to David Flores Thursday afternoon and now the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has revealed what was found.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives (ATF,) and LCSO’s SWAT Team, Hazardous Device Team (bomb squad,) detectives and crime scene investigators searched the home located at 31624 Orange Street, Sorrento Thursday afternoon and into the early evening hours.
“During the search, detectives located firearms, a ballistic vest, fentanyl, and other drugs. The vest that was collected matches the description of the one the victim claimed Flores had in his possession on Sunday. Two improvised explosive devices were also located and collected by ATF, who will be adding additional federal charges to Flores. The two devices were very similar to those collected at the Eustis home on Wednesday,” LCSO Lt. John Herrell said in an email.
Flores was arrested early Wednesday morning after fleeing deputies at the home on Orange Street. LCSO K9 Ex apprehended and bit Flores on a nearby property, and he was taken into custody and booked into the Lake County Jail, where he is being held on no bond.
Flores is now facing federal charges, in addition to the litany of state charges he is facing stemming from an incident on Bates Avenue in Eustis Sunday afternoon. One other person was arrested during the search warrant for violation of a domestic no-contact order after he was found at the home with his alleged victim, Herrell told Inside Lake.
SORRENTO, Fla.— Numerous law enforcement officers were at the home Thursday night where a wanted man was apprehended earlier this week conducting a “follow-up investigation”, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Lt. John Herrell told Inside Lake.
Multiple sources reached out to Inside Lake Thursday evening and said law enforcement officers from multiple agencies were at the home at 31624 Orange Street in Sorrento, including LCSO and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office around 6:30 p.m. This is the same home David Flores, 37, fled from early Wednesday morning after being on the run from deputies for more than two days.
Courtesy photo
Flores was apprehended by K9 Ex on a nearby property, was treated for his injuries and transported to the Lake County Jail. Neighbors told Inside Lake the residence is a “known drug house,” and law enforcement officers could be heard announcing a search warrant. Several people could be seen in front of the home handcuffed. They said, along with LCSO and OCSO, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was on scene. Inside Lake was unable to confirm with LCSO if a search warrant was being served at the Orange Street home, and unable to confirm if ATF was on scene, but LCSO stated in a social media post Wednesday they were investigating an allegation Flores had explosives at the home on Bates Avenue in Eustis where the original crimes Flores was wanted for occurred.
Law enforcement officers can be seen here at a home on Orange Street in Sorrento. COURTESY VIDEO
Flores is now facing additional charges, including armed sexual battery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, battery by strangulation, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and petit theft. He continues to held in LCJ on no bond.
SORRENTO, Fla.—A tip to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office resulted in the apprehension of the man who was the subject of an extensive search in Eustis Sunday night.
LCSO responded to a home on Orange Street in Sorrento just after midnight Wednesday and began searching the property for David Flores, 37, and he fled on foot, LCSO Lt. John Herrell said.
“A sheriff’s K-9 located him shortly thereafter hiding in a hole where it appeared trees had been cleared,” Herrell said in an email.
K9 Ex bit Flores and he was treated for minor injuries and later transported to the Lake County Jail. He was served a warrant revoking his bond for prior grand theft and criminal mischief charges and is facing a new charge of resisting arrest for fleeing deputies before he was apprehended early Wednesday. LCSO body cam video shows Flores getting bit and screaming.
LCSO body cam shows the apprehension of wanted suspect David Flores.
Additional charges are likely, Herrell said.
Flores is suspected of committing an aggravated assault that occurred in the county portion of Bates Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, deputies and Eustis Police Department officers searched for Flores for more than five hours by ground and by air Sunday night, causing concern for residents in the area. The victim of the aggravated assault told LCSO Flores was armed and in possession of a bulletproof vest, Herrell told Inside Lake Monday. Flores fled into a wooded area and slipped the perimeter set up by law enforcement.
SORRENTO, Fla.—The man the Lake County Sheriff’s Office searched for by ground and air for several hours Sunday night has been taken into custody and Inside Lake is working on getting details on his apprehension.
David Flores, 37, was suspected of an aggravated assault that occurred in the county portion of Bates Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Sunday and according to LCSO online booking records he was taken into custody shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday in Sorrento. He is facing a charge of resisting arrest and two bond revocation orders from previous arrests; he is being held without bond due to the bond revocation orders.
Law enforcement officers search a residential neighborhood in Eustis for David Flores Sunday night. PHOTO: Jolie Fowler/Inside Lake
LEESBURG, Fla.—The Lake-Sumter State College Foundation honored its Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Fame recipients Tuesday night in a ceremony held at the Everett A. Kelly Convocation Center at the college’s Leesburg campus.
Nine individuals and a community organization were recognized for their achievements and contributions to the community in front of a large crowd that enjoyed a three-course dinner and video testimonials from the recipients.
Each year, the LSSC Foundation Board of Directors select the recipients from nominations made by the public to receive distinguished alumni awards. For the first time its 12-year history, two people were awarded the prestigious Professional Achievement Award, and one of the recipients was Inside Lake’s Publisher Marilyn Aciego.
Aciego discovered her passion for journalism at Lake-Sumter State College after taking a media class and later became editor of both The Angler and The Odyssey, LSSC’s student publications. She was hired by the Daily Commercial while she was still a student at LSSC and worked her way up to the lead cops and courts reporter. She covered numerous stories that gained national interest, including the death of beloved Sheriff Chris Daniels, a murder committed by identical twins and the disappearance of Trenton Duckett. Aciego’s coverage of these stories lead to appearances on Nancy Grace dozens of times and an episode of Evil Twins on Investigation Discovery.
Lake-Sumter State College Foundation 2023 Hall of Fame recipient Toni Upchurch and Distinguished Alumni recipient Marilyn Aciego.
She left the Daily Commercial in 2009 and began working for an international media organization in an entry-level position and was named Florida bureau chief just three years later. In 2010, she joined recently-retired attorney James Hope to write local stories for Hope’s Lake Legal News magazine, rising to editor-in-chief and then partnering with Hope to start the online edition that focused on breaking crime and public safety news.
In 2021, Aciego and Hope dissolved their partnership and Aciego rebranded Lake Legal News to Inside Lake and began covering general news along with crime news.
“Lake County was becoming a news desert,” Aciego said. “I knew it was time to start Inside Lake.”
It was these achievements that earned Aciego the prestigious Professional Achievement Award and Tuesday night she shared that honor with Sandra Wilson, a 1989 graduate of LSSC.
Lake-Sumter State College Foundation Distinguished Alumni and Hall of Fame 2023
Marilyn Aciego—Distinguished Alumni, Professional Achievement Award
Sandra Wilson— Distinguished Alumni, Professional Achievement Award
Pat Atley— Distinguished Alumni, Scholar Award
Christine Boodhoo— Distinguished Alumni, Valor Award
Juliana Green— Distinguished Alumni, Community Engagement Award
Andrew LoFaro—Distinguished Alumni, Graduate of the Last Decade Award
Toni Upchurch— Hall of Fame, Faculty Award
Kevin Yurasek— Hall of Fame, Staff Award
Patrick Ryan— Hall of Fame, Athletics Award
The Live Well Foundation of South Lake— Hall of Fame, Community Partner Award
