A carjacking suspect has entered a plea in a case in which is charged with stealing a woman’s SUV while she was eating in the vehicle at Winn-Dixie Plaza in Leesburg.
Jayson Todd Locke, 44, of Eustis, entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of carjacking last week in Lake County Court. He continues to be held on $25,000 bond at the Lake County Jail.
The woman was in her vehicle at about 6 p.m. Jan. 19 eating Taco Bell takeout food when Locke yelled at her and ordered her to give him the vehicle. Faced with the possibility of being in the vehicle with Locke, she grabbed her purse and got out.
The woman’s son, armed with his mother’s description of the car jacker went to the gas station near the site of the carjacking and talked to the employee who was working that afternoon. He described the suspect and the employee said that a man matching the description had left a bicycle near the gas station. Police searched the area and found the bicycle along with a backpack near the station. The backpack’s contents included information which indicated it belonged to Locke, who has a previous criminal history in Lake County. Police created a photo lineup from which the woman identified Locke as the person who took her SUV.
