Mount Dora

CITRUS COUNTY, Florida—A 41-year-old Mount Dora man is dead after fleeing a traffic stop, striking stop sticks and crashing into a concrete wall early Saturday morning, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. The Mount Dora man was driving a Jeep Cherokee westbound on State Road 44 near Colonade Street when he sped away from a traffic stop by the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) around 1:30 a.m. Saturday, FHP Sgt. Steve Gaskins said in a press release. CCSO deputies deployed stop sticks around County Road 491, the Cherokee struck the stop sticks, continued fleeing, crossed a median and collided with

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A Mount Dora man is being held on no bond after a woman told Mount Dora Police he shot her at least twice Sunday night, according to an arrest affidavit. Shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Mount Dora Police Department responded to the 1500 block of Pine Avenue in reference to a shooting and when they arrived they found a woman in a 2010 Nissan passenger vehicle suffering from at least two gunshot wounds. The victim told police “Jason,” later identified as Jason Jameel Ganga shot her while she was attempting to leave and he was inside. There were

LONGWOOD, Florida—A longtime Mount Dora orthodontist apparrently killed his ex-wife and then himself in Seminole County earlier this month, according to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO.) Around 4 p.m. Jan. 11, SCSO responded to the 2400 block of Jennifer Hope Boulevard in Jennifer Estates in unincorporated Longwood on a report of a shooting, Public Information Officer Bob Kealing said in a press release. When deputies arrived, they found Sandra Herman, 79, injured in the front yard; she was taken to a local hospital where she died from her injuries. Witnesses told SCSO Herman was shot by an elderly man,

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A “major investigation update” in the deaths of a Mount Dora couple is scheduled for mid-Tuesday afternoon, according to City of Mount Dora Spokesperson Vershurn Ford.   Mount Dora Police Department released little new information Monday, though they told reporters and the public, the names of the victims would be released late Monday after a meeting with the victims’ family. They were not released. Inside Lake has known the couple’s identity since Saturday night, but will not publish the couple’s names until they are officially released. Mount Dora officials held a townhall meeting late Monday morning to reassure

MOUNT DORA, Florida—The man and woman found dead in their Waterman Village apartment New Year’s Eve were a married couple in their 80s and the incident is a homicide investigation, Mount Dora Police Interim Chief Michael Gibson said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. The man, 83, and woman, 80, were found shortly after 4 p.m. Saturday when MDPD responded to a 9-1-1 call from security personnel regarding a “suspicious incident” at 161 Lake Margaret Circle, located inside Waterman Village, a senior living community, Gibson said. “The circumstances surrounding their deaths is suspicious in nature,” Gibson told reporters. “But let

MOUNT DORA, Florida—Mount Dora Police Department is investigating the deaths of a man and woman who were found dead around 4 p.m. New Year’s Eve in an apartment at Waterman Village, according to City of Mount Dora Public Information Officer Vershurn Ford. MDPD responded to a report of “potential suspicious activity” at Waterman Village, 150 Waterman Avenue, Mount Dora and found the man and woman dead at the scene. Their identities are not being released at this time. The area was secured as a crime scene and detectives responded to begin their investigation, Ford said. Lake County Sheriff’s Office CSI

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A man caught by an assistant principal and on video stealing a Mount Dora High School student’s electric bicycle Thursday morning was found by Mount Dora Police officers less than 30 minutes after the theft and only a half of a mile away, according to an arrest affidavit. Rodney Lorenzo Walker, 32, who is listed as 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighing 285 pounds, was wearing a green and bright yellow long sleeve shirt when he went on the MDHS campus, 700 North Donnelly Street and stole an electric bicycle under the watchful eye of the assistant

MOUNT DORA, Florida—The former chief of Mount Dora Police Department has filed a lawsuit against the City of Mount Dora. James “Brett” Meade, filed the suit in Lake County Circuit Court late Monday afternoon, alleging a violation of the Florida Public Whistleblowers Act. Meade was named the city’s interim police chief in July 2020 after former Chief Robert Bell abruptly retired following the firing of former Deputy Chief Michael Fewless. Fewless was fired after having a conversation with this reporter, and this reporter broke the story of his firing. Fewless sued, also alleging whistleblower violations and the city settled with

MOUNT DORA, Florida—Mount Dora Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a man who “sexually assaulted” a young female in his vehicle earlier this week. According to MDPD, the young female, whose age has not been released, was walking home in the area of Eudora Road and Old U.S. Highway 441 Tuesday when the man pulled off to the side of the road and began talking to the female. The female got into his vehicle and a “sexual assault” occurred, according to an MDPD crime bulletin. It is unclear exactly what happened to her and there is no

MOUNT DORA, Florida—The teenager who fled Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Mount Dora Police Officers before firing shots at them on Donnelly Street is a person of interest in the disappearance of his father, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office (VSO.) VSO was searching for Johnny Santiago, 18, after receiving a call from Santiago’s mother, who was in New York, shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday. The woman said she was on the phone with her husband, Juan Santiago, 52, when she heard him arguing with Johnny. She heard a loud noise and the phone disconnected. She has not spoken

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A 18-year-old suspect wanted by the Volusia Sheriff’s Office was shot at least once by law enforcement Monday after shooting at them, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect’s truck was spotted by Eagle One, LCSO’s helicopter, after LCSO received information the suspect may be in Lake County, LCSO Lt. John Herrell said. “We were looking for that vehicle,” Herrell said. According to a social media post by Volusia Sheriff’s Office, a white Ford F-150 related to a suspicious incident in Deltona fled from both Volusia County and Seminole County deputies Monday morning. The Deltona man

MOUNT DORA, Florida—Mount Dora Police Department has arrested two juveniles for shooting people downtown with airsoft guns Friday, according to the city’s spokesperson, Vershurn Ford. The two juveniles were arrested for battery and their names are not being released; the airsoft gun used in the shooting has been recovered, according to Ford. A second incident on Eudora Road Saturday is still unsolved, Ford said in a press release. In that incident, a pedestrian was walking down Eudora Road when he was struck in the leg and near one of his eyes, Ford said. Police released photos of vehicles used in

MOUNT DORA, Florida—For the second time in a week a Lake County Schools student has been found with a loaded gun on campus. A Mount Dora Middle School guidance counselor received information that two students were seen vaping on the soccer field Friday. The guidance counselor asked for the school resource officer (SRO) to assist her, and they were able to identify the two students on video surveillance, according to an arrest affidavit. After identifying the boys, the principal and the SRO pulled one of them out of his classroom to search him for the vape. The boy, 15, denied

MOUNT DORA, Florida—An Ocoee man is being held in the Lake County Jail on $37,000 bond for several charges after allegedly driving recklessly through a construction zone, fleeing a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and ramming the trooper’s car, according to an arrest affidavit. Around 10: 30 p.m. Sunday, a trooper was on Wolfbranch Road approaching U.S. Highway 441 when he spotted a Chevrolet pickup truck run the northbound red light on U.S. Highway 441. “It appeared as though the driver (later identified as Benton Wesley Smith) ‘stabbed’ the throttle intentionally and the rear end of the pickup broke traction,” the

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A man who allegedly has been harassing his uncle for about four months was arrested for several charges after being accused of driving a truck into a fence at his uncle’s home Monday morning and intimidating his uncle and his wife Monday evening. Around 7:15 a.m. David Dwayne Johnson, 45, is alleged to have driven his truck into his uncle and aunt’s fence on 11th Avenue, destroying about 20 feet of the fence, according to an arrest affidavit. The couple called Mount Dora Police Department to respond and told an officer Johnson had been harassing them for around

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A motorcyclist died Saturday night after he was rear-ended and thrown from his bike, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. A 64-year-old Mount Dora man was riding a 2021 Harley Davidson motorcycle eastbound on Old U.S. Highway 441 when he slowed to make a left turn onto Holly Drive around 8:45 p.m., FHP Lt. Kim Montes said in a press release. A 2018 Hyundai being driven by a 34-year-old Mount Dora woman failed to slow and struck the back of the motorcycle as it approached the intersection, ejecting the rider. He was transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares,

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A former Mount Dora city council member was arrested Monday—on the last day of Black History Month—for removing and damaging trees that fell on grave markers in an African American Civil War Cemetery, according to an arrest affidavit. Edward Lee Rowlett, 74, admitted to Mount Dora Police he hired a tree service to cut the trees down after police were called by a Country Club of Mount Dora Board (CCMD) member. He told MDPD there were two grave markers under the refuge left by the tree company and the responding officer performed an internet search of the cemetery

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A burned out taillight turned into a trip to jail for a van’s passenger early Friday morning. Mount Dora Police pulled over a van on East Spring Harbor Boulevard just before 3 a.m. when an officer noticed the left taillight out, according to an arrest affidavit. The officer noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the van as the officer spoke to the driver and told the driver they could smell it. The occupants were asked if there was any marijuana in the van and the driver said he smoked earlier, but to his knowledge there was not

MOUNT DORA, Florida—Two men who followed their intended robbery victim right into the parking lot of Mount Dora Police Department are behind bars on no bond. Shortly before 1:30 a.m. Wednesday a man in a truck pulled into the parking lot of MDPD, followed by another vehicle. The man in the truck told police the vehicle had been following him since he was in Orange County, flashing its high beams at him and making him feel uncomfortable. As the officer spoke to the victim, a man exited the second vehicle and made statements, “about a small Hispanic officer that shot

MOUNT DORA, Florida—A man wanted for conspiracy to introduce contraband into a detention facility compounded his problems Tuesday when he allegedly tampered with evidence and grabbed Lake County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Noble and refused to let him go. LCSO deputies responded to Quality Inn, 16630 U.S. Highway 441, Mount Dora to attempt to locate Michael Carl Nieves on a warrant Tuesday afternoon. After confirming his room number with management, deputies knocked on his door and Nieves answered, asking several times if he was going to jail, according to an arrest affidavit. Deputies informed Nieves, 51, he was going to be