77.5 F
Leesburg
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Christmas Day carjacking leads to Leesburg man’s arrest

Troy Yar
Troy Yar

An alleged carjacking early in the evening on Christmas Day led to the arrest of a Leesburg man in Fruitland Park.

Fruitland Park officers were dispatched to the Trinity Assembly Church at 6:19 p.m. regarding the theft of a car. On the way to the church, an officer saw a blue Pontiac which had crashed into some blueberry bushes near the intersection of County Road 468 and Urick Street. The officer saw that the street sign was bent over and that a telephone pole was knocked in half with the top half still being held up by wires. After finding no one in the Pontiac, the officers went to the church, where they made contact with the owner of the Pontiac.

The owner told the officers that he was a taxi driver who had received a call from the staff at UF Health-Leesburg Hospital to transport 23- year-old Troy Yar to a cold weather shelter. As the driver was approaching the intersection of Urick Street and Thomas Avenue, he told the police that Yar struck the right side of his neck with a closed fist and told him to get out of the car. He allegedly threatened to kill the driver, who fled the car believing that Yar had a knife to his neck. The officers could see a large gash on the right side of his face and noted that the victim had urinated himself during the attack, according to the arrest report. The driver saw Yar drive off at a high speed as he sought help at the church. The victim gave the police a description of Yar and the clothes he was wearing which helped the officers identify Yar who they saw walking on County Road 468.

When the officers brought Yar back to the church, the driver identified Yar as the carjacker. Lake County Fire Rescue arrived at the church to check Yar out as he was complaining of knee pain. Yar spit at EMS personnel who attempted to treat him.

The Pennsylvania native was taken to the Lake County Jail where he was booked for carjacking, battery on a firefighter and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage.

Bond was set at $30,500

Most Popular

More articles

Hit-and-run suspect takes out crepe myrtle on trip to have cat neutered

A hit-and-run suspect took out a crepe myrtle tree while she was driving to have a cat neutered.

Boy on bicycle trail beaten and robbed by four teenagers

A boy on a bicycle trail was beaten and robbed of his iPhone by four teens in Lake County.

Leesburg, Florida Sign

Follow Us

13,036FansLike
145FollowersFollow
168FollowersFollow