Single online date apparently sets woman on rampage in Leesburg

A Fruitland Park woman was arrested Wednesday for bashing in the windshields and keying two cars belonging to the mother of an online date.

On or about April 21, officers with the Leesburg Police Department responded to an undisclosed residence to speak with the female victim and her son, the witness, about a burglary, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County. 

The witness stated that at about 7:58 p.m., a woman who he identified as 39-year-old Amanda Peak came to his residence and destroyed two security cameras that were attached to the residence, as well as two vehicles that were parked on the property. He observed Peak performing these acts via security recordings, and he could positively identify her from a prior interaction he had with her in 2021. They met on a dating website, went on a single date and ended contact, the affidavit said. 

The victim advised that she was the owner of the residence and both vehicles that were damaged. Through security footage, she saw a woman enter the front porch area, break two security cameras attached to the residence and scratch, or key, two of her vehicles. She did not know the woman on the recordings, but after speaking with her son, he informed her that it was Peak. She had never met nor spoken to her, the affidavit said. 

During the investigation, officers observed damage to two security cameras near the front door of the residence under the roof. The aforementioned vehicles were identified as a red 2017 Ford Escape and a black 2013 Dodge Avenger. The former was parked partially in the carport, while the latter was parked in the yard. Officers observed scratches on both vehicles that were consistent with being scratched or keyed by an individual, the affidavit said. 

Officers then watched multiple security camera recordings on the victim’s and the witness’s cell phones. In one video, officers observed a woman enter the front porch area of the residence and knock on the door. In another, they saw the same woman grab a security camera and rip it from the wall where it was mounted, the affidavit said. 

A different recording showed the same woman walk up the driveway of the residence, push over a garbage can and begin walking back toward the street. When she got to the rear of the Ford Escape, she turned toward it, and a loud noise could be heard on the recording. She stood in about the same place where the vehicle was scratched, the affidavit said. 

A separate video showed the woman walk from under the carport and alongside the same side of Dodge Avenger as there were key marks. As she did so, a loud scratching noise could be heard on the recording, the affidavit said. 

Both the victim and the witness told officers that prior to this incident, neither of the vehicles were damaged or scratched. The victim estimated the damage to the security cameras to be $140. The damage to the Ford Escape was estimated at $1,500 while the Dodge Avenger was estimated at $750, the affidavit said. 

Eleven digital photographs were taken of the damaged security cameras and damaged vehicles. These were later submitted into evidence at LPD via chain of custody. Six digital recordings from the security cameras were captured and submitted into evidence in the same way. The officers’ body camera footage was later submitted, too, the affidavit said. 

At about 11:34 p.m. that same day, officers returned to the residence regarding Peak coming back and causing more damage to the vehicles. The victim and the witness heard someone trying to get into their residence through the front door around 11:30 p.m. They watched through a security camera as Peak took a hammer or a bat and broke the windshields of the vehicles, the affidavit said. 

Officers observed the windshields of both vehicles to indeed be broken. It appeared to be consistent with an individual hitting the windshields with a blunt object multiple times. Six photographs were taken and later submitted as evidence, the affidavit said. 

Officers proceeded to watch two security camera recordings on the witness’s cell phone which were later submitted into evidence. In them, a woman approached the front of each of the vehicles and struck them multiple times with what appeared to be a hammer. The estimated damage to each windshield was about $500, or about $1,000 in total, the affidavit said. 

Peak was arrested Wednesday evening on a warrant by the Fruitland Park Police Department. She was charged with burglary of occupied dwelling unarmed and criminal mischief (over $1k). She was transported to Lake County Jail and released after posting $17,500.