UMATILLA, Fla.—A tracking app helped nab an accused teenaged armed robber earlier this week, according to an arrest affidavit.
Juan “Slugga” Gomez Jr., 16, of Umatilla, is accused of robbing two victims of $500 on Orange Circle in Lady Lake Sunday. The victims told Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies a masked male suspect pointed a gun at them and demanded money, and a second male who was not wearing a mask helped him, the affidavit states.
The victims identified Gomez through social media and LSCO found that he attended Umatilla High School. Gomes was secured and detained at UHS Monday, where he was interviewed by an LCSO detective. He denied being in Lady Lake and taking part in the robbery and refused to give the detective a DNA sample, according to the affidavit.
Gomez’ father responded to the school and told LCSO he has a tracking app and it showed Gomez was in Lady Lake around the time of the robbery. Gomez then confessed to the crime but said he did not get any money; he refused to identify he accomplice. Gomez was arrested for armed robbery and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
EUSTIS, Fla.—A man suspected of an armed robbery in Eustis Friday is in the Lake County Jail on $50,500 bond.
According to Eustis Police Department Chief Craig Capri, a man reported he was robbed of his wallet that contained around $400, his identification and a Cash App card Friday afternoon on East Hazzard Avenue. He told police the suspects were in an older blue SUV and a black Volkswagen, and he was walking on the side of a home in the 1200 block of East Hazzard Avenue when he felt two firearms on his back. He said two men, one he identified as Jeremy Stephon Battle, 34, told him to give them everything he had and pulled his pants down.
The two men then walked up to a third man and handed him something the victim was unable to see, and all three men fled the scene. Officers began canvassing the area for the men and the vehicles and spotted a newer model black Volkswagen passing on a double line near Hicks Ditch Road. An EPD corporal soon found a Volkswagen backed into a parking spot at Treasure of Hope Stop and Play internet casino, located at 37847 North State Road 19, Umatilla. The corporal ordered the occupants out of the car at gunpoint and a woman exited the car with a small child, along with a man quickly identified as Cameron Blair, 21.
Blair, who is well-known to law enforcement, had an active warrant for a variety of crimes and was placed under arrest. Officers spotted a Glock 19 9mm tucked between the front passenger seat and the center console in plain view and within reach of Blair. He was transported to the police department and questioned about the robbery, and later transported to the Lake County Jail on the warrant and additional charges of carrying a concealed firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Details on the warrant were not available at press time, but Blair is facing several charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (domestic,) possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, lewd or lascivious molestation and domestic battery. He is being held on no bond. He was not charged in the robbery, but the case is still under investigation, EPD Sgt. Paul Barnett told Inside Lake.
Officers continued searching the area for Battle, the suspect in the robbery, and found him standing in the yard of a home in the 100 block of Bates Avenue. He made eye contact with an officer and took off running. Officers set up a perimeter and with the assistance of a Lake County Sheriff’s Office K9, they found Battle hiding in a tent in the backyard of the home. He was taken into custody and transported to the police department for questioning.
Battle, who was captured on video speaking with the victim, was still wearing the same clothes when he was taken into custody. He denied being a part of the robbery and said “I” did not rob anyone with an emphasis on “I,” and “making it sound as if he were present, however did not commit the actual crime,” the arresting detective noted in the affidavit.
Battle, 34, was arrested for armed robbery and resisting arrest without violence and transported to LCJ, where he is being held on $50,500 bond.
EUSTIS, Florida—Eustis Police Department has released two photos of the suspect who robbed a Eustis gas station Wednesday night.
The manager of Bay Street Food Mart, formerly known as Kars Mart, 1212 South Bay Street, was outside closing up at around 11 p.m. when the robber ran up, held the victim at gunpoint and went back into the business. The victim opened the cash register, and the suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register and fled the scene on foot. Video surveillance captured the incident, and the photos accompanying this article were taken from that video.
The suspect is described as a black male, medium build, approximately 6 feet tall; he was wearing a gray hoodie, black pants, white shoes, a black hat with a bird on it, along with a black mask and sunglasses. He appeared to have several tattoos. Including one on his left hand and possibly a tattoo above his left eye.
If you have information on the suspect’s identity, call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS
EUSTIS, Florida—Eustis Police Department is hunting for an armed robber after the manager of a busy gas station was held at gunpoint late Wednesday night as he closed the store.
The manager of Bay Street Food Mart, formerly known as Kars Mart, 1212 South Bay Street, was outside closing up at around 11 p.m. when the robber ran up from the north side of the building, pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and demanded money, EPD said in a press release.
The victim and the suspect went back into the business and the victim opened the cash register. The suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register and left the scene on foot. Video surveillance captured the incident, and the suspect is described as a black male, medium build, approximately 6 feet tall; he was wearing a gray hoodie, black pants, white shoes, a black hat with a bird on it, along with a black mask and sunglasses. He appeared to have several tattoos. Including one on his left hand and possibly a tattoo above his left eye.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, Eagle One and an LCSO K9 assisted with trying to find and apprehend the suspect but were unsuccessful. The K9 tracked to the northwest side of the store and evidence was located west of the business. Police believe the suspect dropped the undisclosed evidence while making his getaway.
If you have information on the robbery, call Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS.
Update: 7:05 p.m. A previous version of this story stated the suspects’ bond was set at $52,000. At 5:32 p.m. and 5:33 p.m., their bond status was updated to no bond.
LEESBURG, Florida—Two Tampa men found hiding under a blanket behind a washer and dryer in the carport of a Leesburg home have been arrested for robbing a gas station Monday morning of numerous cartons of cigarettes and vapes, according to their arrest affidavits.
Tyreece Freeman Jr., 22 and Jahiem Vonzell Comer, 21, both of Tampa, were found by Leesburg Police Department after a complaint of a suspicious person led them to the pair hiding in the carport.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to an armed robbery around 4 a.m. Monday after a 9-1-1 caller reported Circle K, 10030 County Road 44 in unincorporated Leesburg had just been robbed. As deputies responded, a white Chevrolet Malibu fled past them headed westbound on County Road 44 into Leesburg city limits. Deputies attempted to catch up to the Malibu but were unsuccessful and around 4:30 a.m. Leesburg Police Department found the car abandoned, the affidavit states.
Soon after, LPD received a complaint of a suspicious person about a block away from where the Malibu was found, and Freeman and Comer were taken into custody. The duo offered the homeowner $20 not to call police, a detective noted in the affidavit. Two pairs of shoes were found near them, and one pair was orange, yellow, black and white and matched the description of shoes worn by one of the robbers and an employee of the gas station later positively identified the shoes. Two of the suspects in the robbery are still on the run.
Courtesy photo
The victim told LCSO four tall, black males wearing masks entered the store at the corner of County Road 44 and County Road 473 and one indicated he had a gun in his jacket pocket, confirmed when the victim saw a magazine base plate and the bottom of a pistol grip in his pocket. The victim complied and the suspects began to fill trash cans from the store with numerous cartons of cigarettes and vapes and then fled. Two empty trash cans were later found at the scene of the robbery and the loot from the robbery was found in the abandoned Malibu, along with masks, according to the affidavit.
Freeman and Comer were both arrested for armed robbery by LCSO and trespassing by LPD. They are each being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
