CLERMONT, Florida—The crash that closed the eastbound lanes of Hammock Ridge Road for several hours Monday claimed the life of Clermont man, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
A 2017 Mack box truck was disabled in the eastbound outside lane of Hammock Ridge Road shortly before 9:30 a.m. Monday with its hazard lights on and traffic warning triangle markers placed in the roadway, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi said in a press release.
A 2003 Dodge Ram 1500, being driven by a 37-year-old Clermont man, was traveling in the same lane and attempted to switch lanes to avoid the disabled box truck, but the right front of the Ram struck the rear left of the box truck and the driver of the Ram was pronounced dead on the scene, Crescenzi said. He was not wearing a seatbelt.
The driver of the box truck, a 49-year-old Winter Haven man, was not injured. The crash remains under investigation.
ALTOONA, Florida—A man released from prison just three months ago is back behind bars after fleeing from a Lake County Sheriff’s Office detective in a stolen truck Tuesday, according to an arrest affidavit.
An LCSO detective went to a home on Lake King Road in Altoona Tuesday morning to interview Dennis James Imhoff, 36, about his involvement in a vehicle burglary. When the detective arrived, Imhoff was unloading items from a white Chevy truck, later determined to be stolen, the affidavit states.
The detective identified himself and Imhoff got in the truck and backed through the yard in a “reckless manner,” ran a stop sign at Rea Way and State Road 19 and then traveled to County Road 42. LCSO attempted to stop Imhoff, and he fled northbound on Big Oak Road.
The detective received information Imhoff entered a driveway on East Altoona Road, and he located the truck, covered with a tarp, behind the home. The detective then discovered the truck was stolen from Umatilla on Monday, the affidavit states.
LCSO canvassed the area from 10:50 a.m. until 2 p.m. Tuesday and failed to find Imhoff. Shortly after 3:30 p.m. LCSO received a call Imhoff was around County Road 42, and he was located by a K9 deputy and its handler. Imhoff was instructed to stop running and he failed to, and K9 Murphy was deployed and apprehended Imhoff.
Imhoff was transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares for treatment of a dog bite and medically cleared, according to the affidavit. He was arrested for grand theft auto, fleeing and eluding and resisting without violence.
Imhoff is currently on probation and suspected in more than six grand theft auto cases in Marion County and Volusia County. He is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
EUSTIS, Florida—A Eustis man is facing 10 serious charges after the Lake County Sheriff’s Office found numerous homemade bombs in his home in Royal Trails in unincorporated Lake County Saturday.
On Friday, LCSO received a tip from a witness who said Markus Fricke, 55, had built several devices recently with the intent of “blowing up the residence” and was waiting for a shipment of chemicals to finish, according to an arrest affidavit.
The witness saw a shipment arrive marked “Ammonium Nitrate” weighing about 50 pounds; The shipment, along with statements made by Fricke scared the witness and she fled the home at 30927 Tulip Avenue and called law enforcement.
Ammonium Nitrate, a fertilizer, was one of the main components used in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.
Ammonium Nitrate found in Markus Fricke’s home. PHOTO: Lake County Sheriff’s Office
The witness met with LCSO and said Fricke had been making bombs and booby traps and he was planning to blow the entire street up, including himself and his home. She drew deputies a map showing where Fricke kept chemicals and devices, the affidavit states..
Fricke, who has “an extensive history of unusual and concerning behavior” believes people live in his attic and trespass on his lawn, and law enforcement has responded to his home numerous times in the last few years.
While LCSO was interviewing the witness, Fricke left his home, and he was stopped by deputies who found a homemade device on his floorboard. The device, a metal tube with a 12-gauge shotgun shell, was designed to trigger via spring tension activated by a trip wire. The device was later determined to be a destructive device by the LCSO Hazardous Device Team.
Markus Fricke PHOTO: Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Fricke was Baker Acted and LCSO secured a search warrant for his home and due to the witness advising the home may be booby-trapped, the LCSO HDT utilized a robot to make entry. Four destructive devices were found, and all designed to activate by a tripwire. A fuel bomb that was fashioned to act as a flammable grenade was also found.
A lot of fuel, materials, and tools were discovered in addition to “copious amounts” of firearms, including a short-barreled shotgun and ammunition,” and a “significant amount” of anti-Semitic literature, the affidavit states. It is unknown if Fricke had a specific target.
An explosive device found in Markus Fricke’s home. PHOTO: Lake County Sheriff’s Office
Neighbors spoke with LCSO and said they heard and saw Fricke detonate devices on his property, one explosion so violent last week, it shook the neighbor’s home.
Fricke was arrested Monday, following his Baker Act. He is facing six counts of making or possessing a destructive device, one count of threat to discharge a destructive device, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a short-barreled shotgun. He is being held in LCJ on no bond.
An explosive device made from an aerosol can found in Markus Fricke’s home. PHOTO: Lake County Sheriff’s Office
TAVARES, Florida—A man already in the Lake County Jail for moving a man’s body and covering it with a sheet and couch cushions has been charged in his death, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Jesse “Cracker” Franklin Hill, 42, was arrested May 27 on a charge of tampering with evidence and is now facing a manslaughter charge, in the death of his roommate, Ernie Wayne Wilburn, 44, in Altoona in May.
On May 4, Hill made two “cryptic” emergency calls to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and deputies responded to 19331 East Altoona Road and found Wilburn covered in a sheet with cushions stacked on top of him and a puncture wound in his left rib area, according to the affidavit. LCSO also found a bloodstain indicating he was moved.
When LCSO read a search warrant for the property aloud, Hill reportedly asked if a specific area to the west side of the house was included, and he was informed it was; a Ruger .22 high-velocity air rifle was found in the same area.
An autopsy of Wilburn later found a .22 caliber pellet-style projectile in his lung, along with a significant blood clot in his chest cavity that indicated Wilburn “suffered for a significant time prior to his death,” the affidavit states.
Hill fled the residence during the investigation, according to the affidavit, later telling multiple sources he was “on the run” and “wanted for murder.”
LCSO caught up to Hill at a home in Eustis May 27 and he was arrested for tampering with evidence. He was held at the Lake County Jail on no bond until he was charged with manslaughter Friday; he is still being held on no bond on both charges.
A witness told LCSO Hill shot Wilburn with the air rifle because he was annoyed with him. The witness said Wilburn was outside a window yelling because he did not have a key and Hill shot him through the window. Hill told witnesses he did not believe the pellet gun would kill Wilburn, he just wanted him to go away.
Lauren Carlton spoke exclusively to Inside Lake this week about the death of her fiancé, Austin Graham, at the hands of her father, James Carlton last month.
Carlton was accused of shooting Austin in the head and killing him after Austin stopped to talk to Carlton in the middle of Whitney Road in unincorporated Leesburg June 22. Austin, 26, recognized Carlton’s truck, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Fred Jones said last month, and stopped to talk to the grandfather of his children. After a brief conversation, Carlton, who was known to carry a gun, shot Austin and fled the area. Carlton called his wife, who he had recently reunited with, after being estranged for more than a decade.
Lauren, 26, was on the phone with her mom when Carlton called her and moments later, she called Lauren back to tell her that her father had shot Austin. Not long after, Carlton texted Lauren, “I’m sorry.”
Carlton was arrested for Austin’s murder at a Marion County bar, near the Lake County Line. Lauren said her dad was drunk when he was arrested. “Whiskey turns him into the devil. That’s the best way I can say it.”
Carlton died of a heart attack a little over a week later.
Lauren reached out to Inside Lake to clear Austin’s name and dispel rumors that have been spreading on social media following Austin’s death.
Together five years and engaged for 4.5 of those years, Lauren met Austin through his sister, one of Lauren’s close friends. Austin’s sister Ronni was taking Lauren to get a tattoo and they stopped by Austin’s house. Lauren had a word tattooed on her neck and that word would later become their daughter’s name. Lauren did not want to name her children for this article. They shared two children, a 3-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy and had decided to have a third baby just before he was murdered.
“Austin never once put his hands on me. Never.”
Lauren said LCSO detectives immediately asked her if Austin abused her and she very clearly told them, “no.” Lauren does not have social media pages, but people close to her have told that numerous comments have been made that her dad killed Austin because he was abusive. Lauren said that just is not true. “My dad knew Austin never put his hands on me,” she told Inside Lake.
She does not know exactly what set Carlton off that day but was extremely candid about his battles with alcohol throughout the years. Lauren said Carlton gave up drinking for the first time in her life when she got pregnant with her daughter but had recently started again due to pressure in his personal life.
“My dad, my entire life, was an abusive alcoholic. Honestly, I don’t really feel like it was about Austin. I don’t know. It was my dad’s hate for himself.”
Carlton had recently reunited with Lauren’s mom and Lauren believes the pressure of responsibilities got to him. Austin and Carlton had not argued recently and there was no indication this was going to happen other than Carlton had started drinking again.
“The pressure. My dad, my whole life could never handle the pressure of being a father, or having a wife, or doing what was right. I feel like he snapped.”
Lauren said she remembers when she was younger, she would know what kind of day it was going to be by the way Carlton’s truck was parked.
“I used to get off the bus and I could see the way his truck was parked, and I wouldn’t want to get off the bus because I knew he was (extremely drunk.)”
Lauren said Carlton beat her mom several times, “It was a bad childhood.”
Lauren feels like Carlton was looking for Austin that day; Lauren and Austin frequented a property off Whitney Road and several people with video surveillance have since told her Carlton’s truck drove up and down the road several times before the murder.
Lauren is trying to heal and stay strong for her babies, but she is having a tough time, “I just never knew anything could hurt this much. I want everybody to know how good Austin was.”
“I feel like God gave me Austin and my dad took him away.”
UMATILLA, Florida—A man who allegedly threatened a group of people with a gun scaring a woman so much she urinated on herself, is being held in the Lake County Jail on $26,000 bond.
Jeremy Forest Mitchell, 29, is accused of accosting the woman about some money she allegedly owed him Saturday, according to an arrest affidavit.
The woman told a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy she was riding her bicycle with her friend on State Road 19 Saturday night when Mitchell came up on his skateboard asking about the money. Her boyfriend apparently saw the altercation, approached Mitchell, and asked, “Why are you talking to my girl?” the affidavit states.
Mitchell, of Yalaha, is then alleged to have pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at the trio and said, “I’m going to cap all three of y’all!”
The group backed up and the woman urinated on herself out of fear, she told LCSO. She pulled out her phone and told Mitchell she was going to call law enforcement and Mitchell put the gun away, grabbed his skateboard and fled the area.
Deputies located Mitchell and the victim positively identified him as the perpetrator, according to the affidavit. Mitchell denied the accusations against him and denied talking to anyone that evening. He was taken into custody and found with a small amount of marijuana; deputies did not find a gun.
Mitchell was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of marijuana.
TAVARES, Florida—The man accused of killing his daughter’s boyfriend last month has died.
James M. Carlton, 57, was accused of shooting Austin Graham, 26, in the head and killing him on June 22 after the pair stopped to talk to each other on Whitney Road in unincorporated Leesburg. Graham was Carlton’s daughter’s boyfriend, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Fred Jones told Inside Lake.
Carlton, of Fruitland Park, fled the scene and was arrested for murder later that day at a bar in Marion County and held in the Marion County Jail until he was transferred to the Lake County Jail on Monday.
On Thursday night, Carlton was having a “medical issue” and after being evaluated by a nurse at the jail, he was transported to a local hospital, where he passed away, Jones said.
There was no use of force, and no foul play is suspected, Jones said.
EUSTIS, Florida—A pair of teenagers arrested last month for several vehicle burglaries are facing more charges.
Matthew Hanners, 18, of Eustis, was arrested twice this week, first on Wednesday and again on Thursday, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
In June, numerous neighborhoods on the east side of Eustis were hit with thieves, including, but not limited to, Blue Lake Estates, Misty Oaks, Summer Glen, Brookshire, Horizon Oaks and Hillcrest over the past few weeks, EPD Capt. Jon Fahning told Inside Lake last month.
Hanners and Casey C. Johnson, 19, of Leesburg, are accused of stealing many items, including guns, gift cards, jewelry and electronics. On June 16, the pair were arrested for several charges related to the burglaries; Hanners was released on $21,000 bond on June 21 and Johnson has been held in LCJ on $33,000 bond since the arrest.
On Wednesday, two charges were added to Johnson, armed burglary and petit theft and he was given ROR (released on his own recognizance) on the added charges, according to online jail records, but is still being held on the first set of charges. Hanners was arrested Wednesday for burglary and petit theft and was released on $6,000 bond. On Thursday, he was arrested again—this time for two counts of burglary, armed burglary, grand theft and two counts of petit theft. He is being held in LCJ on $33,000 bond. Hanners was also given ROR for two of his charges, burglary and petit theft.
Hanners’ and Johnson’s next court date is scheduled for July 11.
TAVARES, Florida—Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell has a message for those dealing drugs in Lake County…to be continued.
Announcing the largest fentanyl haul in Lake County history at a press conference Thursday, Grinnell spoke to members of the media about a 4-month operation that resulted in 27 people facing drug-related charges after detectives with multiple agencies targeted three high-level drug traffickers and their associates across the county.
Cliff “Sneak” Johnson, 40, Andrew “Smurf” Woodruff, 37, and Charles, “Cuz” Carter, 50, who have collectively been arrested 75 times for felonies, were the main targets of “Operation Sneak-A-Peek” Grinnell told reporters Thursday afternoon.
“Mr. Johnson goes by the street name, “Sneak,” and our detectives took a peek and what Mr. Sneak was up to; hence, the name of this operation,” Grinnell said.
Detectives from LCSO, Clermont Police Department, Eustis Police Department, Leesburg Police Department and Mount Dora Police Department, DEA, FBI, Homeland Security and the Fifth Circuit State Attorney’s Office investigated the trio and found that fentanyl was coming from Mexico into California and Texas and making its way to Lake County, either by shipping methods or transported by vehicle, Grinnell said.
“This was truly a team effort,” Grinnell said.
PHOTO: Bonnie Whicher/Inside Lake
Detectives traveled to Georgia and throughout Florida to crack the case, according to the sheriff.
Detectives recovered a large amount of drugs, including 3.1 pounds of fentanyl, 1.11 ounces of fentanyl pills, 22 pounds of methamphetamine, 2 pounds of cocaine, 1.2 ounces of crack cocaine, 5.7 ounces of heroin, 10 ounces of MDMA and 15 pounds of marijuana. Thirteen guns were recovered, three of which were stolen, in addition to $12,000 in cash, four vehicles and three pill presses. The drugs have a wholesale street value of nearly $300,000 Grinnell said.
Johnson, of Leesburg, is being held in the Sumter County Jail on no bond and is facing 23 charges, including trafficking, conspiracy to commit trafficking, unlawful use of a two-way communication device and possession of numerous different drugs; Woodruff, of Mount Dora, is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond and is facing four charges, racketeering, conspiracy to commit trafficking in fentanyl and methamphetamine and, unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Carter, of Leesburg, is charged with conspiracy to commit trafficking in fentanyl and cocaine, and conspiracy to commit racketeering. He is also being held in LCJ on no bond.
The operation also revealed the suspects were dealing Isotonitazene, commonly known as ISO, a synthetic opioid that can be 20 to 100 times more potent than fentanyl, Grinnell said.
Seventeen suspects have been arrested and cops are still looking for nine more.
Grinnell had a message for those he calls “pushers of poison.”
“Operations like these save lives and put the pushers of poison behind bars. So here in Lake County, I say, to be continued.”
State Attorney Bill Gladson said some of the charges carry minimum mandatory prison sentences of at least 15 years.
Several documents in each of the suspects’ cases have been sealed and many details of the undercover operation are not available.
PAISLEY, Florida—A Lake County Fire Rescue firefighter is fighting for his life after two masses were found on his brain after being rushed to the hospital earlier this month.
Blake Kocielko, 28, of Deltona, was rushed to Central Florida Regional Medical Center in Sanford after experiencing blurred vision and sudden dizziness while at home on June 19, according to a GoFundMe started by his brother Colton. Colton also works for Lake County Fire Rescue and is currently working on his firefighter certification, he told Inside Lake.
Blake went through testing and two masses were found and one was determined to be a tumor, Colton said. Medical personnel were unable to reach the other mass.
“The tumors were not excised completely because more testing needs to be done first – but the neurosurgeon feels confident that they are cancerous. This is undoubtedly a devastating blow for Blake, his friends and family, and all of us here at Lake County Fire Rescue,” Lake County Firefighters stated in a Facebook post.
Blake was released from Central Florida Regional Medical Center in Sanford Thursday and is awaiting a second craniotomy at Shands Hospital in Gainesville to remove as much of one of the tumors as possible, Blake wrote in a GoFundMe update Monday.
“I am currently awaiting my second craniotomy procedure at Shands to attempt to remove as much of the tumor attached to my left lobe that they can and from there I will begin a treatment plan and begin the long road to recovery and hopefully return to healthy. I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you, no words of encouragement or support has gone unnoticed, and I truly couldn’t thank everyone enough,” Blake stated in the update.
Blake is expected to undergo the surgery in the next two weeks, Colton said. “Hopefully, that will relieve some of the symptoms.”
Blake worked for a private ambulance company before joining Lake EMS in 2018, “to work alongside me,” Colton, 30, said of his little brother. He joined Lake County Fire Rescue in 2021 and is currently stationed in Paisley.
Blake and his longtime girlfriend, Jordan, have a rescued Yorkie named Survivor and their pug, Milo, passed away unexpectedly while Blake was in the hospital.
If you would like to donate to Blake to aid in his expenses and recovery, please visit GoFundMe-Blake’s Fight
