Umatilla

Man Flees Eustis Traffic Stop, Crashes

EUSTIS, Florida—A man accused of fleeing a traffic stop did not get very far when he crashed the vehicle, he was driving just a few blocks later, according to an arrest affidavit.

Eustis Police attempted to stop 2005 silver Honda without a front or rear bumper for running a stop sign at Park Avenue and Eustis Street shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday. The car, being driven by Erin Tryon Dobson, 18, accelerated and fled the area when an EPD officer activated his lights and sirens, running several stop signs. The officer then terminated the stop, due to department policy, the affidavit states.

A short time later, a crash was reported at Bay Street and Pendleton Avenue and the same officer responded and found it was the vehicle that had just fled from him in the same area. Dobson, of Umatilla, was on scene when EPD arrived and admitted he was driving the car and apologized for fleeing because he did not have insurance, according to the affidavit.

A witness told EPD she saw three black males exit the car and two of them took off on foot behind an apartment complex nearby; Dobson said one of the males was his cousin, but he did not know the other male’s name.

Dobson was arrested for fleeing and eluding and reckless driving. He was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was released on $10,500 bond.

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Women Arrested for Burglary After Being Found Naked In Homeowner’s Bathtub

UMATILLA, Florida—A Umatilla woman was arrested by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office after being found naked in a whirlpool tub by the owner of the home around 1:15 a.m. Tuesday.

The victim told LCSO she awoke to find lights on in her kitchen and heard her whirlpool tub running at her home on Lake Smith Road in unincorporated Umatilla early Tuesday morning. She opened the door to her bathroom and found Amanda Nicole Toler, 32, naked, inside her bathtub. The victim asked Toler who she was and what she was doing and she reportedly said, “I’m Amanda, I have nowhere else to go. You can call the cops.”

The victim left the naked Toler in the bathroom and did just that, according to the affidavit. When LCSO arrived, Toler was still in the tub bathing and told a deputy, “I’m waiting to die,” the affidavit states. Toler said she knocked and entered the home through a window when she did not get an answer and had recently taken cocaine, but she did not how much. She did not know the homeowners, she told LCSO.

Toler was taken into custody and arrested for burglary of an occupied dwelling. She was transported to the Lake County Jail, where she is being held on $15,000 bond. Toler has been arrested four times in Lake County since 2020 for drug possession, battery and failure to appear, according to LCSO online records. 

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Man Out On Bond For Child Molestation Arrested After Firing Two Shots Near Woman Who Did Not Want Him Around Her Daughter

UMATILLA, Florida—A man out on bond for molesting a 5-year-old girl in 2020, was arrested Saturday after firing two shots near a woman who did not want him around her daughter, according to an arrest affidavit.

Around 9 p.m. Saturday, Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Tropical Whisper mobile home park in unincorporated Umatilla in reference to a battery. The victim told LCSO she went to her neighbor’s house to retrieve her daughter, who was with Joshua “Boops” Leon Redmond Dudley, 28, and his girlfriend. Dudley is facing several sex-related charges involving a minor;  the victim’s daughter’s age is not listed in the affidavit.

The woman said Dudley began arguing with her and grabbed her by the hair and threw her down, the affidavit states. Dudley then pulled out a gun and the victim yelled at him to let her go. Dudley fired a shot into the air, while holding the victim down and then fired a second shot next to her head. The victim begged Dudley not to kill her because of her daughter and he reportedly said, “You should have thought about that first.”

Dudley then let her go and fled the area and was later apprehended near the now-defunct Pine Meadows Golf Course. He was arrested on two counts of aggravated battery with a weapon, discharging a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm.  The arresting deputy requested Dudley be held on no bond due to his unresolved lewd and lascivious molestation case.

In that case, Dudley was arrested after a woman called Leesburg Police on Aug. 25, 2020, and said LPD needed to respond quickly before she killed Dudley. The witness told police Dudley molested a young girl and she did not understand why he would do that. Police questioned Dudley who reportedly uttered, “Man I (expletive) up and going away for a long time I shouldn’t have done that,” and then said, “I don’t know why I did that there is something wrong with me,” the affidavit in that case states.

Dudley told police the victim — who was only 5 years old — began talking “sexual” to him and asked him to go to the laundry room with him.  A sex act took place in the laundry room for about five minutes until the witness entered the room, according to the affidavit.  

Dudley’s next court appearance in that case is scheduled for March 29.

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Teen Arrested For Throwing Brick Through Vehicle Window At Umatilla Police Department

UMATILLA, Florida—A Umatilla High School was student was arrested last week for throwing a brick through the window of a police officer’s personal vehicle In January.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Umatilla Police responded to the area of Kentucky Avenue and Mitchner Street in reference to a subject matching the description of a retail theft suspect on Jan. 21.

Police approached a juvenile who matched the description of the thief, and he told the officer he stole a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from a Umatilla convenience store because he wanted to go to jail. The store refused to prosecute, and the 17-year-old was turned over to his father, the affidavit states. It is unclear what time that incident occurred. Inside Lake is not naming the juvenile, due to his age.

At 3 a.m. a police officer found a brick had been thrown through the rear window of his personal vehicle, causing more than $1,500 in damage and video surveillance from UPD’s parking lot showed the teen committing the crime. He was interviewed by UPD, and he admitted he threw the brick because he was “angry and wanted to go to jail,” and he thought the vehicle belonged to a police officer, the affidavit states.

He was taken into custody at Umatilla High School by the school resource deputy on a juvenile pickup order Feb. 22 for criminal mischief more than $1,000 and turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

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Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Domino’s and Delivery Driver In 2020 Death Of Pedestrian

TAVARES, Florida—A lawsuit has been filed in the death of a pedestrian who was killed while walking with her boyfriend down State Road 19 in Umatilla in 2020.

Rebecca “Becky” Lynn Carpenter, 39, was walking northbound along the shoulder of State Road 19 on the south end of Umatilla near the Dollar General that had recently opened with her boyfriend, Russell “Rusty” Gibbons, when she was struck by a sedan, also traveling northbound around 8 p.m. May 30, 2020.  The sedan was being driven by Frederick Martin Cole, of Eustis who was 29 and working for Domino’s, 1936 North State Road 19, Eustis at the time of the crash. Carpenter was pronounced dead on the scene; Gibbons was not hit, the Florida Highway Patrol said in 2020.  

The vehicle that struck Rebecca “Becky” Carpenter in 2020. Courtesy photo

According to the lawsuit filed in Lake County Circuit Court against Cole and ASR Pizza Inc. dba Domino’s Pizza LLC on Monday, Cole was “negligent and careless in the operation of his motor vehicle as to collide with Rebecca Carpenter, a pedestrian. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the defendant Frederick Martin Cole, the decedent, Rebecca Carpenter suffered serious and permanent injuries which led to her death.”

The suit, filed on behalf of Carpenter’s minor daughter, states ASR Pizza Inc. dba Domino’s Pizza LLC is vicariously liable for Cole’s actions. The plaintiff, who is represented by George Anderson III of Dan Newlin Injury Attorneys, is seeking more than $30,000 in damages.    

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Man Arrested Exiting Forklift He Stole From Popular Church Construction Site

UMATILLA, Florida—A Umatilla man is accused of stealing a forklift from a popular church that is under construction Sunday, but he only made it across the street, according to an arrest affidavit.

Jordan Arthur Meadors, 25, was busted by Umatilla Police getting out of the forklift that was stolen from First Baptist Church Umatilla (FBCU,) just after 2:30 a.m. after someone reported a suspicious incident. Meadors told UPD he was just moving the forklift after a “guy that he had just met told him he was allowed to drive the forklift and park it across the street,’ the affidavit states.

First Baptist Church Umatilla construction site, left. Jordan Meadors, right.

UPD found that Meadors drove the $78,000 forklift through a fence at FBCU, causing $1,000 damage to the fence. Meadors was taken into custody and when he arrived at the Lake County Jail, he was found with methamphetamine in his jacket pocket. He is facing several charges, including possession of methamphetamine, introduction of contraband into a detention facility, loitering or prowling, criminal mischief, burglary and theft. He is being held in LCJ on no bond.   

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Umatilla Man Killed in New Year ATV Crash

UMATILLA, Florida—The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal ATV crash that occurred just 30 minutes into the new year Saturday morning.

A 36-year-old Umatilla man was riding an ATV westbound on Lakeview Street near Lakeshore Avenue in the area of Lake Umatilla, when he lost control around 12:30 a.m., FHP Lt. Kim Montes said in a press release. The ATV overturned and landed on top of the man.

The man, who was not wearing a helmet, was transported to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares, where he later died. The crash remains under investigation.

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Umatilla Man Bonds Out On Child Pornography Charges

UMATILLA, Florida—A Umatilla man bonded out of jail just a day after Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agents arrested him at his Umatilla home for four counts of possession of child pornography Thursday.

Working on a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) FDLE began investigating two images of child pornography that were reportedly found in a DropBox account in July.

User nighthawkinflight64200@gmail.com uploaded two sexually explicit images of two little girls who appear to be 6 years old and 10 years old with adult men, on July 18, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Through its investigation, FDLE found that the email address belonged to Lewis Blanton III, of West Fifth Avenue in unincorporated Umatilla. FDLE obtained a search warrant for the DropBox account and found that it contained multiple images of Blanton and his girlfriend, in addition to personal information, including copies of Blanton’s driver license, documents for his military disability and photos of his residence, according to the affidavit. Two more exploitative images were also found; one that depicted girls believed to 6 years old and a teenager, and the second depicting two girls, believed to be 12 and 14.

Several of Lewis Blanton’s tattoos. PHOTO: Lake County Sheriff’s Office

Agents also found evidence Blanton, 57, used cryptocurrency to purchase a link to a child pornography site on an anonymous browser. “…Your affiant knows through training an experience that child pornography collectors and those with an interest in child sex abuse material take significant measures to conceal their identities and IP addresses in order to avoid detection from law enforcement. The contents of the DropBox account give your affiant probable cause to believe that Lewis Blanton has dominion and control over the account containing child pornography and that he uses an Onion Router (TOR) and various VPNs to conceal his identity and activity,” the arresting agent stated in the affidavit.

Blanton was taken into custody at his home and transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was released on $40,000 bond. 

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Inappropriate Teacher-Video Leaks Out To Lake County Students

The following story was previously published on Lake Legal News.

[09/06/19 9:45 p.m.] UMATILLA, Florida – Due to the nature of its content, LLN is declining to publish the video itself, to avoid further mental harm to students. However, even a cropped screenshot excerpt of the leaked video reveals that the unnamed woman appeared shocked at the salacious language being used, which is the subject of the ongoing investigation by Lake County Schools.

[09/06/19 4:56 p.m.] UMATILLA, Florida – Lt. John Herrell has informed LLN that the LCSO took a report, investigated the matter, and having determined that no criminal violation exists, has referred the matter to Lake County Schools.

09/06/19 2:45 p.m.] UMATILLA, Florida – A Umatilla Middle School teacher is under investigation by Lake County Schools after several social media videos went viral during the hurricane break.

Todd Erdman, employed since 2007, shared numerous videos on the social media platform TikTok, containing sexually explicit statements. The videos were spotted by a student who then shared them with friends and they spread throughout the community in a matter of hours. The videos were sent to LLN Thursday, by a concerned parent. The school district was made aware of the videos after a parent complained about the videos early Thursday morning.

Imani Williams, multi-media specialist and assistant public information officer for Lake County Schools told LLN that Erdman called in sick Thursday and Friday, but is under an active investigation. When he returns to work, he will be placed in a no-student contact position, Williams said. “We urge all of our teachers to operate with integrity.”

Geoff Rose, whose children were taught by Erdman, is appalled. “I find it disgusting. As a parent and youth coach, doing things like this is highly unacceptable,” Rose said. Rose has coached youth sports for 20 years.

Erdman has no prior disciplinary action, according to Williams. What happens next will be determined by outcome of the investigation. “We are working our hardest to do the most thorough investigation we can,“  Williams said. “We are here to do the best job possible.” Williams said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office also investigated. A call to LCSO was not returned by press time.

[Original Breaking Story] TAVARES, Florida – Sources are telling LLN that a Lake County middle school teacher is under investigation after inappropriate videos shared on the social media platform TikTok were viewed by numerous students during the hurricane break. A student stumbled upon the video and shared it with friends and it spread on social media in a matter of hours.  

A concerned parent emailed two of the videos to LLN Thursday. One video, 16 seconds in length shows the teacher having a verbal exchange with an unknown female. The conversation has graphic sexual connotations that most would consider vulgar. The second video, just eight seconds, shows the teacher in a bathtub making another graphic sexual remark.

No one could be reached at Lake County Schools after hours.

This is a developing story.

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