EUSTIS, Florida—A 17-year-old male was rushed to the hospital after getting shot in the face at Sunset Island Park Saturday, according to Eustis Police Department.
Multiple people were at the park when an unknown vehicle drove by and fired off shots shortly before 6 p.m. at the park, located at 409 West Ward Avenue. The park features a basketball court, playground equipment, grills picnic tables and a skate park.
“It looks like they were having some kind of party,” EPD Chief Craig Capri said.
The teen, whose name has not been released, was out of surgery and in stable condition at press time, Capri told Inside Lake. He was rushed to the hospital by partygoers before EPD arrived and detectives have not interviewed him yet. Inside Lake was on scene and spotted a young woman carrying a gift bag and a grocery bag in the windy, bitter cold about a block from the area cordoned off by crime scene tape.
PHOTO: City of Eustis
“I have zero tolerance for gun violence,” Capri said Saturday night. “Anytime there is a shooting in the city, it’s all hands on deck, detectives and officers.”
Multiple marked and unamrked units were at the scene and Capri said they collected “really good physical evidence.”
The investigation is still in the early stages and Capri is asking anyone with information on the shooting to call EPD at 352-357-4121.
TAVARES, Florida—A Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end was arrested in Tavares early Sunday morning after fleeing Fruitland Park Police.
Lerentee’ Zavonne McCray, 31, fled from FPPD when an officer attempted to pull him over for speeding, according to an arrest affidavit. An officer spotted a white Dodge Ram traveling on County Road 25 at a “high rate of speed” and utilized her radar to find the truck was going 88 mph. The officer attempted to stop the Ram at C.R. 25 and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard by activating her lights and sirens and the driver, later identified as McCray, put his left arm out of the window and flipped his middle finger at the officer, according to the affidavit.
The officer began to chase McCray and an FPPD sergeant joined in, reaching speeds up to 100 mph, the affidavit states. McCray was driving in “an extremely reckless manner,” swerving across all three southbound lanes of traffic and FPPD terminated the stop.
About 15 minutes later, McCray pulled into 7-Eleven at the corner of U.S. Highway 441 and Banning Beach Road in Tavares. Officers from Tavares Police Department were arresting an individual for drug possession following a traffic stop and were being assisted by a sergeant from Astatula Police Department, according to a TPD report.
PHOTO: NFL
McCray, who appeared to know the APD sergeant, gave him a fist bump and then retrieved his wallet. McCray then walked over to a TPD officer’s car, opened the fuel door and walked over to the pump attempting to buy some gas, according to the report. The officer told McCray that was not necessary and closed the fuel door. McCray opened the door again and inserted the fuel nozzle into the patrol car. The officer attempted to take the nozzle from McCray, and he forcefully grabbed the officer’s wrist, and the officer pushed him back, the report states.
McCray then went to the back of his truck and removed a child’s bicycle and placed it on the hood of the truck and began “talking in circles.” McCray then laid on the ground as if he wanted to be handcuffed, the officer noted in the report.
McCray was handcuffed due to his erratic behavior and was not making sense when he spoke. The TPD officer allowed McCray to lean on his knee as they spoke, and McCray fell asleep. Officer called Lake EMS to the scene and as McCray was placed on a stretcher, FPPD informed TPD they had charges for McCray due to him fleeing the earlier traffic stop.
McCray was transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares, where he was arrested by FPPD after he was medically cleared. TPD conducted an inventory of McCray’s truck and found a small bag of marijuana and a Benelli SuperNova shotgun.
McCray is facing a charge of fleeing and eluding he was released from the Lake County Jail on $5,000 bond. McCray played for the University of Florida from 2008 to 2012 and has been a Jacksonville Jaguar since 2017.
LEESBURG, Florida—A 17-year-old boy is facing charges after police say he opened fire at a busy park earlier this month.
Theodore L. McNealy Jr. was arrested Sunday after he was identified by several witnesses following a shooting at Berry Park less than two weeks ago.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a group of black males on foot approached a group of black males in a red Chevy Impala at the entrance to Berry Park, 2121 Johns Avenue, Leesburg shortly before 4 p.m. Jan. 8. The group on foot brandished pistols and began firing at the car, the affidavit states.
PHOTO: Leesburg Recreation Department
The males in the vehicle returned fire and numerous gunshots were exchanged. There were several families in the park and a local organization was holding a fundraiser at the time of the shooting, LPD Lt. Scott Mack said. Witnesses identified McNealy as the person who initiated the gun fight, the affidavit states.
A warrant was issued Jan. 11 and the teenager was arrested Monday for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a minor.
This is the second teenager arrested for a shooting at the popular park in less than two months. Zamarion Z. Johnson, 17, was arrested in December for 34 felonies stemming from a shooting at the park on Nov. 28. In that incident, a physical altercation turned to gunfire and Johnson stands accused of shooting at a vehicle while dozens of people, including children, were at the park.
“The Leesburg Police Department is still actively investigating this (latest) incident and attempting to identify a possible second shooter in the incident,” Mack said. If you have information, call LPD’s Criminal Investigations Division at 352-728-9862 or Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
GROVELAND, Florida—A man is facing a charge of aggravated animal cruelty after allegedly shooting and killing his neighbor’s dog.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a home on Sandcastle Drive in unincorporated Groveland around 10 a.m. Jan. 10, according to an arrest affidavit. When they arrived, they found a couple covered in blood who told them their dog had been shot by the neighbor. The man left to take the dog to the emergency vet and the woman told LCSO she walked out to call her dogs and heard a single gunshot.
She observed her older dog limping and noticed it was unable to get through the fence. She told her husband she believed the neighbor shot the dog and when they went to question the neighbor, they found Curtis Aaron Jones, 58, who lives with their neighbor, according to the arrest affidavit. When questioned if he shot the dog, Jones allegedly admitted it and said he shot the dog because it was in his garbage can. The woman told Jones she was going to call law enforcement and when they arrived, they spoke with Jones.
He said he saw two dogs in his trash, yelled and grabbed his shotgun. He told LCSO he did not mean to hurt the dog, he just wanted to shoot next to it and scare it. Deputies spoke to the emergency vet, who said the numerous pellet holes in the dog were consistent with someone shooting directly at the dog, not to miss or scare the dog, the affidavit states. X-rays showed the dog suffered more than 80 pellet wounds from the bird shot and died less than two hours after arriving at the vet.
Jones admitted the dogs were not posing a threat to him at the time he fired the weapon. He was arrested for aggravated animal cruelty and is being held at the Lake County Jail in $5,000 bond.
LEESBURG, Florida—A second suspect sought in the murder of a Leesburg man last year has been arrested, according to Leesburg Police Department.
Jeron Lee Johnson, 32, was arrested Friday by local authorities and U.S. Marshals in Ohio, LPD Lt. Scott Mack said in a press release; Johnson is currently awaiting extradition back to Lake County, Mack said.
On Aug. 4, 2021, LPD responded to a report of a shooting victim in the 1000 block of West Line Street, shortly before midnight and found Michael Pettis, 34, dead. Police searched the area for suspects but did not find anyone, LPD Capt. Joe Iozzi said in August.
After an investigation, LPD obtained warrants for two suspects, in November, Johnson and Sonja Isadieu-Johnson, 36. It is unclear if the pair are related. Isadieu-Johnson was located in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Virginia Beach Police Department’s SWAT team secured a search warrant on her residence and took her into custody on Nov. 3, 2021.
EUSTIS, Florida—It has been 9 months since Craig Capri became the chief of Eustis Police Department. And in those 9 months, the department has seen an numerous changes, including the promotions of nearly 22 percent of its sworn officers.
Quite a change from a department that under its last chief, Gary Calhoun, saw a tremendous amount of turnover and had six open positions when Calhoun left the office in 2021.
EPD is a small department with only 41 sworn law enforcement positions, including Capri. There are just two open positions with the recent swearing-in of two new officers earlier this month, Capri told Inside Lake.
Capri, who spent 31 years at Daytona Beach Police Department, brought big ideas with him from the much bigger department; DBPD has 241 sworn positions, compared to EPD’s 41. Since taking over the reins, Capri has encouraged his officers to become much more community oriented with the creation of the downtown officer position and he has hosted several events to engage the community.
“The police department is the most visible form of government,” Capri explained, “We’re involved in everything. People associate police with the city.”
EPD Chief Craig Capri speaks with a resident at Pizza with the Police, held at El Marie Pizzeria in August 2021. PHOTO/Inside Lake
The downtown officer position was created to target and prevent crime in the downtown area, especially the business district, Capri said. The downtown area has a large homeless population and Capri believes that is at least partially due to The Open Door, a homeless drop-in program provided by LifeStream located at 115 East Citrus Avenue, “We’ve had to clean it up,” he said.
“It’s a cool program, but the location doesn’t make any sense. It doesn’t need to be downtown in the business district,” Capri told IL.
Capri believes some of the homeless people downtown are truly in need, some are contributing to the criminal element, and some may have mental health issues. In partnership with LifeStream and paid for by a grant, EPD with soon have a mental health counselor on staff to respond to calls with road patrol officers if needed.
“One of the things I want to do is address mental health,” Capri said. One of the first things he did as chief was send all his officers to Volusia County Sheriff’s Office for ICAT (Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics) training. Two EPD officers have now been trained in ICAT, so they can train newly hired officers, Capri said.
EPD officers speak with residents at Pizza with the Police, held at El Marie Pizzeria in August 2021. PHOTO/Inside Lake
Capri has hosted a bicycle ride for elementary age children, coffee with a cop, pizza with the police and most recently, shop with a cop in the short time he has been in Eustis. To continue with keeping his officers approachable, six bicycles will be available to road patrol officers to spend all or part of their shift on the bike, Capri said. He is an avid cyclist himself and participates in in Tour De Force 9/11 Memorial Bike Ride each year.
Newly promoted Cpl. Zach Steele is pinned by his father at a promotion ceremony held at City Hall earlier this month. PHOTO: Inside/Lake
A new unit will hit the streets soon to target problem areas in the city. The POP unit—Problem Oriented Policing—will target areas dealing with a large numbers of car burglaries, drug activity or any other problems residents bring to the attention of EPD. The unit will be led by a newly promoted corporal who will supervise three officers to combat issues that arise in the city.
Along with that corporal, Capri has also promoted two other officers to corporal, four corporals to sergeant, one sergeant to captain and one interim captain to a permanent captain position. EPD does not have a deputy chief.
EUSTIS, Florida—A motorcyclist is dead following a crash shortly before sundown Saturday afternoon, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
A 69-year-old man from Missouri was riding a motorcycle southbound on State Road 19 at 5:33 p.m. when he attempted to turn right to travel west on County Road 19A, near Dam Smoker. He lost control, struck a sign and overturned in a ditch, FHP Lt. Kim Montes said in a press release. The man was ejected and transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares, where he was pronounced dead.
It is unknown if the man was wearing a helmet, Montes said.
ORANGE COUNTY, Florida—A Tavares woman received minor injuries in a crash that killed a motorcyclist from Apopka Saturday night, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
A 19-year-old Apopka woman was northbound in a sedan on Orange Blossom Trail at Jones Avenue in the Zellwood area around 8:45 p.m. Saturday. A 51-year-old man, also of Apopka, was riding a motorcycle southbound on Orange Blossom Trail and a Tavares woman, 59, in a sedan was stopped on Jones Avenue at the intersection of Orange Blossom Trail, FHP Lt. Kim Montes said in a press release.
The Apopka woman attempted to make a left turn on to Jones Avenue and turned into the path of the motorcycle. The motorcycle struck the side of the Apopka woman’s sedan and the sedan struck the car the Tavares woman was driving. The motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead on the scene.
The Apopka woman and the Tavares woman sustained minor injuries and the crash remains under investigation.
TAVARES. Florida— A 20-year-old man suffered at least one gunshot wound during a drive-by shooting in Tavares late Saturday night.
Joshua Williams II was outside of a home on West Maud Street when the shooting occurred, according to Tavares Police Public Information Officer Courtney Sullivan.
“Mr. Williams was transported to a local hospital and is being treated for his injuries that he sustained from the incident,” Sullivan said.
Police are investigating the motive behind the shooting and expect to release more information once it is available. If you have information on Saturday’s drive-by shooting, call TPD at 352-343-2101.
KEY WEST, Florida— A Leesburg man turned himself in to authorities Thursday for vandalizing the Southernmost Point buoy in Key West on New Year’s Day.
Around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, Key West Police and Key West Fire responded to a fire at the buoy, according to a Facebook post by Key West Police Department. They found the remnants of a charred Christmas tree and found the fire “left a burned scar three feet wide and seven feet tall,” causing more than $5,000 in damage.
Crews work to restore the iconic Southernmost Point Buoy in Key West after a fire damaged it early New Year’s Day. PHOTO: City of Key West
Two suspects, later identified as David Brendan Perkins, 22, of Leesburg and Skyler Rae Jacobson, 21, of Henrietta, Texas, were seen on numerous surveillance cameras dragging the tree to the iconic buoy, hiding and setting the tree ablaze. The duo also took several photos of each other standing in front of the tree and buoy, before setting fire to the tree.
Key West Police issued warrants for the pair for criminal mischief and they arranged to turn themselves in, according to KWPD. Perkins was booked into the Monroe County Jail on no bond Thursday and Jacobson was still on the lam at press time.
Crews began repairing the buoy the day of the fire and expect it to be completed by Thursday night, police said.
