UMATILLA, Fla.— A local man well-known in the community and to law enforcement has been arrested again, accused of battering an elderly woman at a group home in unincorporated Umatilla.
Earlier this month, Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a group home in unincorporated Umatilla on a report of a sex offense complaint but the incident was later was found to be a battery, according to a probable cause affidavit. For safety reasons, the responding deputy transported two women, one a victim and the other a witness, to Umatilla Police Department to be interviewed.
During the interview, both women described the residence where they live as a “type of group home/halfway house where multiple, unrelated persons live,” the affidavit states. They said the home is supervised by Pedro “Pastor Pete” Custodio, 55, who also lives on the premises. While interviewing the women, the responding deputy noticed a “large purple and red” area on the outside of the 77-year-old victim’s thigh. The victim said the bruise was the result of abuse by Custodio.
A detective responded to UPD and also interviewed the women; the victim told the detective said she was sitting in Custodio’s bedroom having a conversation with him when he became angry with her for “talking excessively.” He grabbed her with both hands and pushed her down, causing the large bruise. She told the detective about another incident where Custodio told her she needed to take a shower. She said she began gathering her belongings for the shower and Custodio began yelling at her because she was not moving fast enough and then he pushed her to the ground.
The detective then spoke with the witness, who is also the victim’s roommate. She said she observed Custodio battering the victim on multiple occasions, pushing her, striking her and choking her.
Following the interviews, a warrant was issued for Custodio’s arrest for battery on a person 65 or older and he was picked up in Lady Lake on July 12. He was also charged with a violation of probation (VOP) stemming from an incident Inside Lake reported in 2022. In that case, Custodio was accused of throwing a box cutter at man through the open window of an SUV at Lowe’s in Mount Dora. He pleaded no contest in that case and was sentenced to 60 days in jail, followed by 36 months probation. Due to the VOP, he is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond.
In June 2020, Custodio was arrested for battery on a disabled adult and driving while license suspended. In that incident he was accused of battering a resident of the “quasi group home” he ran in Tavares. He claimed self-defense and when Tavares police officers asked why he did not call 911, he reportedly said, “(Expletive) you, if I hit you, you’d shoot me because that’s all cops do.”
The charge was dropped later that year after the victim could not be located, according to an announcement of no information filed in the case.
Previous stories: Altercation in Mount Dora Parking Lot Lands “Pastor Pete” in Jail – Inside Lake
Foul-Mouthed “Pastor Pete” Arrested for Battery Upon a Deaf, Mentally Impaired Man – Inside Lake
