Leesburg Police officers scrambled to a popular restaurant late Sunday night after a man reported being robbed and carjacked in the eatery’s parking lot.
When officers arrived at Ramshackle Café, located at 1317 N 14th St., the victim told them that he had been attacked by a black male and a man identified as 45-year-old Marc Anthony Perrault. He said they struck him in the face, demanded his money and drove off in his 2005 white Pontiac Montana minivan, a Leesburg Police report states.
The victim, who was suffering from minor facial injuries, was evaluated by Lake County Fire Rescue paramedics as police continued to gather information. A short time later, his vehicle was located in the area of Lakeshore Drive, fully engulfed in flames.
The victim told officers that both he and Perrault are transients and have “frequented each other’s company.” He said they both had been contacted by Leesburg officers this past Saturday when they were sleeping behind an area church. And he said they had purchased alcohol and spent the afternoon and early evening drinking together before parting company, the report says.
The victim told officers he had just parked his vehicle in the southwest corner of the Ramshackle Cafe’s parking lot when Perrault and the other man approached him. He claimed that Perrault made a statement to the effect of “give your money and keys” while lifting his T-shirt and revealing a handgun, the report says.
Perrault was arrested a short time later in the parking lot of the Circle K minimart at 900 S 14th St. He was transported to the Leesburg Police Department, where he declined to speak with officers and asked for an attorney. He was then taken to the Lake County Jail and charged with robbery with a firearm, robbery carjacking with a firearm or weapon, petit theft (two or more prior convictions) and battery. He was being held on $212,000 bond and is due in Lake County Court on May 13 at 8:30 a.m. to answer to the charges.
