CLERMONT, Fla.—The Florida Highway Patrol in investigating a crash that killed two people Saturday afternoon on Florida’s Turnpike in Clermont.
The crash, involving a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado, occurred at 2:30 p.m. near mile marker 280 in the southbound lanes and killed the driver and one passenger; a second passenger was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center with serious injuries, according to Trooper Migdalisis Garcia.
TAVARES, Florida—A six-month long undercover drug investigation targeting fentanyl traffickers has wrapped up with the arrests of 15 people and six more are on the run, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
A joint operation between LCSO’s Special Investigations Bureau, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the City County Investigation Bureau— which includes police officers from Clermont, Eustis, Leesburg and Mount Dora—uncovered a variety of illegal narcotics being distributed throughout the county, including trafficking amounts of deadly fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA.
Law enforcement developed information from the public to aid in the investigation and obtained warrants for 21 individuals on a total of 50 charges that range from trafficking in narcotics to minor possession.
“Operations like this and the many we have done in the past save lives. I’m proud of the dedication and commitment of our undercover agents to keep Lake County safe,” Said Sheriff Peyton Grinnell.
Six people involved in the case have eluded authorities and are still being sought: Scottie Crosby, George Medina, Jason Simpson, Kourtney Smith, Tyson Smith and Derrick Walker.
CLERMONT, Fla.—A man wanted in Tennessee for passing counterfeit money and already on probation in Hillsborough County, was arrested Tuesday, along with a teenager, after Clermont Police Department found him with counterfeit $100 bills, according to an arrest affidavit.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, CPD responded to Advance Discount Auto Parts, 2655 East Highway 50, on a report of people passing counterfeit bills. The caller described one of the suspects, the affidavit states.
About 20 minutes later, members of CPD’s Crime Suppression Unit spotted a white Nissan pull into the parking lot of Auto Zone, 200 West Highway 50, bypass several parking spots in front of the building and park on the side, out of view, the arresting officer noted in the affidavit.
A CPD sergeant watched the vehicle from an unmarked unit and witnessed a total of three individuals exit the car and enter the store and one suspect returned to the car. Each individual made the trip alone, and one of the individuals matched the description of the suspect in the original call, according to the affidavit.
CPD approached the lone individual in the car and identified her as a juvenile female; her name was not released. Officers entered Auto Zone and found Malik Shamari Jones, 20, of Tampa, trying to leave the store with some items and the second individual, identified as Norvis Jerimane Heflin, 17, also of Tampa, was standing at the register, according to the affidavit.
Jones initially resisted and when a sergeant drew his taser, Jones complied and went to the ground and Heflin complied when he was ordered to the ground. Jones was searched and found with a $100 counterfeit bill in his wallet and Auto Zone employees said Jones and the juvenile female used a total of six counterfeit $100 bills to purchase items. CPD took possession of those bills that were “blatantly counterfeit.”
Heflin was still standing in line when police entered the building, but he was found in possession of two counterfeit bills and arrested for that; he was also arrested for uttering forged instruments and petit theft for the incident at Advance Discount Auto Parts. He was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.
While detaining the juvenile female who was found in the Nissan, police smelled marijuana and upon searching the car, they found more counterfeit bills and receipts from other businesses. Jones was arrested for four counts of uttering forged bills, resisting without violence, four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child and petit theft. He is being held on no bond due to being on probation in Hillsborough County. He likely will not be extradited to Tennessee because the warrants states Tennessee will extradite only within a 250-mile radius.
FOUR CORNERS, Fla.—A Davenport man was killed while walking in the westbound lanes of U.S. 192 late Monday night, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Just after 10 p.m. Monday, a 2014 Toyota Camry being driven by a 58-year-old Clermont woman was traveling westbound on U.S. 192 approaching Town Center Boulevard in the outside lane when the Davenport man walked into the westbound lanes, FHP Lt. Tara Crescenzi said in a press release.
The Camry struck the teen, and he was pronounced deceased on the scene. The Clermont woman was transported to AdventHealth Four Corners ER with minor injuries. The crash remains under investigation.
TAVARES, Florida—Austin Hill, the man arrested last week in the murder of Wseni “Haitian Black” Laguerre, was stabbed multiple times by another inmate at the Lake County Jail Sunday; and the man accused of stabbing him is well-known to Lake County law enforcement.
Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, a Lake County Sheriff’s Office detective responded to the jail after detention staff reported an inmate had been stabbed. Hill, 26, was stabbed multiple times in the back, neck and face and video surveillance clearly showed his attacker was Dustin “Chico” Perdue, 27, according to an arrest affidavit.
Only Inside Lake extensively covered Perdue’s numerous arrests for armed robbery in 2022 in Clermont, unincorporated Mount Dora and Tavares and in February 2023, he was charged with murdering Alejandro “Alex” Garcia in Tavares April 8, 2022. Perdue’s nephew, Octavious Marquis Reed, 23, was also charged in the murder.
According to the affidavit, Hill told LCSO he was talking with another inmate when Perdue came up behind him and struck him multiple times in the back and neck and finally on his left temple. Perdue then went upstairs to his cell and Hill followed him to confront him. Hill walked back downstairs, and Perdue attacked him a second time. He told a detective the weapon was a sharp, small, metal object and the handle was a t-shirt. The weapon was found Monday when detectives returned to LCJ to interview other inmates who may have witnessed the attack.
The attack, which began at 7:11 p.m., was captured on video and clearly showed Perdue committing the crime. Detectives also listened to a call Perdue made to a female just minutes before the attack.
“During the conversation, the inmate advises the female that he was about to go to the box (Disciplinary Confinement). The female questions the inmate who states, ‘l can’t really um talk…you know the news?’ to which the female says, ‘OK. The new…oh, OK. Alright, baby.’
The inmate then states, ‘Yeah, he just came in my…(unintelligible.)’ Later in the conversation the inmate tells the female that he would be given 30 days and would then probably be going to AC confinement for ‘like eight months.’ The inmate then tells the female. “You know I’m not just fixing to fight this dude. So, I’m going to get 30 days in the box.’
Perdue was charged with attempted murder on Tuesday and remains in LCJ.
CLERMONT, Florida—A squatter is in the Lake County Jail after Clermont Police Department executed a search warrant at a vacant home Thursday.
After receiving a report of suspicious activity at the vacant home located at 657 Winding Lake Drive, CPD responded to the home and found several individuals who could not provide proof they lived in the home, including D’angel Terry Pugh, 20, according to CPD.
Officers spotted narcotics and a gun in plain view and the CPD Crime Suppression Unit secured a search warrant for the home. During their search they found copious amounts of drugs, including 361 grams of MDMA, 62 grams of cocaine, 150 grams of marijuana and a small amount of prescription pills, in addition to the gun and a pill press, CPD said in a social media post.
Multiple bags of pills and loose pills were found spread out on a dining room table with a “Joker” imprint, along with the pill press and a hammer with a colorful residue that appeared to be used to crush pills, the affidavit states. A clear bag with 62 grams of cocaine was also found on the table, and a pink HP laptop displaying a “transaction page” on the screen was also found and when officers put the laptop in standby mode, they found the name “D’angel,” according to an arrest affidavit.
CPD found evidence Pugh was staying in a bedroom and in that bedroom, they found a small baggie of mushrooms, stuffed in a white shoe, and a cell phone. Pugh did not take ownership of the drugs, but did admit the laptop was his, “However, everything located on the table was in plain view and it would be impossible to say that one did not observe the narcotics at and around the table due to the volume,” the arresting detective noted in the affidavit.
Pugh was arrested for trafficking in MDMA, trafficking in cocaine and possession of paraphernalia. He is being held in LCJ on $301,000 bond.
CLERMONT, Florida—A Minneola man is behind bars after video surveillance captured him stealing from several businesses at the Montrose Street Market early Monday.
Clermont Police responded to 793 West Montrose Street after the victim reported his security cameras caught a man, later identified as Michael Jacob Mathis, 21, entering the business around 2:30 a.m. through a door that was accidentally left unlocked by a cleaner, according to an arrest affidavit.
Mathis, wearing a white hoodie and dark pants, did not cover his face or wear gloves as he made his way through the market, which houses several vendors. He stole multiple items, including two iPhones, one from Design Sushi and a second one from Brave Burger; he also stole a tip jar from Brave Burger that contained approximately $10. He stole 50 cents from The Tasty Crepes and dropped a soda can, he then grabbed a drink and a tip jar that contained $70 from Pico Bistro, the affidavit states.
The video also showed Mathis wearing “very noticeable” tan work boots and carrying a black bag with a red stripe during his crime spree.
Later the same day, the complainant’s assistant reported seeing Mathis walking down Lake Minneola Shores Road in Minneola wearing the same boots and carrying the same bag, according to the affidavit. Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped Mathis and upon running his name, they found he had a Marion County warrant for failure to appear for petit theft.
Mathis was searched and he was found with a small bag of methamphetamine, a glass pipe with residue, a cut straw and several small baggies that contained residue; he also had a small bag of marijuana, according to the affidavit.
Mathis denied being in the market but was found with the phone the belonged to Design Sushi and $72 in small denominations that would be consistent with cash in a tip jar. Mathis was arrested for burglary, four counts of petit theft, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia. His bond on those charges is $18,000 but he is being held on a detainer for the Marion County warrant.
GROVELAND, Florida—An Orange County deputy sheriff has been fired after getting arrested by a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy Wednesday.
Juan Alberto Morales-Padilla, 44, of Groveland, was arrested after fleeing an LCSO deputy when the deputy attempted to stop him on his yellow motorcycle on State Road 50 in Clermont, around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest affidavit.
The deputy was behind the motorcycle when it passed a vehicle in the median and the deputy attempted a traffic stop. Padilla failed to slow down, and the deputy activated his sirens and Morales-Padilla turned around and looked at him and sped off, he noted in the affidavit.
The deputy went to Morales-Padilla’s home in Groveland, knocked on his door several times and finally went around to the back of the home where he could see Padilla standing by a door with a phone in his hand. Padilla, who was wearing the same clothes, walked to the rear of the home and the deputy shined his flashlight on him. Morales-Padilla reportedly waved at the deputy and walked down a hallway, emerging soon after with different clothes on, according to the affidavit.
Morales-Padilla then opened the front door, came outside and began actively resisting a second deputy. He was secured and as they walked to a patrol unit, an LCSO deputy asked Morales-Padilla if he was a law enforcement officer.
“You wanna run?”
“Yeah”
“Seriously? Are you a cop? Are you a cop?
“I, uh, yeah.”
“Yes? So, you know better.”
Morales-Padilla also told deputies he made a “bad choice.” He was arrested for fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest without violence. He was later released from the Lake County Jail on $3,000 bond.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina PHOTO: Orange County Sheriff’s Office
Orange County Sheriff John Mina fired Morales-Padilla, who worked for OCSO for less than one year.
“These are serious allegations, and I have been clear that there will be no tolerance for criminal behavior involving deputies,” Mina said in a statement. “At the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, we hold our deputies to the highest ethical standards whether they are on duty or off duty.”
CLERMONT, Florida—Three Mascotte residents were killed early Friday morning after the pickup truck they were in struck a tractor-trailer and an asphalt truck head-on, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
A 21-year-old woman was driving a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado southbound on State Road 33 near Bakers Lane shortly after 5:30 a.m., when it entered the northbound lane and struck a 1999 Freightliner tractor-trailer head-on, causing the tractor-trailer to run off the road and overturn on its right side, FHP Trooper Migdalisis Garcia said.
The Silverado continued to travel in the northbound lane and struck a 2018 Kenworth asphalt truck head-on, causing the asphalt truck to leave the roadway, collide with trees and overturn on its right side.
The driver of the Silverado and her passengers, a 50-year-old woman and a 59-year-old man, all of Mascotte, were pronounced deceased on the scene. None of the occupants of the Silverado were wearing a seatbelt, according to Garcia.
The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 57-year- Kissimmee man and the driver of the asphalt truck, a 53-year-old man of Wimauma, Illinois suffered minor injuries and were transported to Orlando Health South Lake Hospital in Clermont. Lake County Fire Rescue and Groveland Fire Department also responded to the scene.
CLERMONT, Florida—The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a crash that killed three people early Friday morning.
The crash occurred at 5:36 a.m. at State Road 33 and Bakers Lane in unincorporated Clermont and involved an overturned asphalt truck; Lake County Fire Rescue has confirmed three fatalities on the scene, according to FHP Trooper Migdalisis Garcia.
“There is currently roadblock in the area,” Garcia said in an email.
