A 24-year-old Leesburg man with 18 prior arrests – including four in the last year – was arrested again, this time for allegedly stealing a car and possession of heroin.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy responded around 4:30 a.m. Sunday to a report of a vehicle theft at a residence on Emeralda Island Road. The man who reported the incident said Daniel Hernandez was staying the night at the residence. He said he heard the victim’s car crank up due to its bad muffler, and when he ran outside, he saw Hernandez in the driver’s seat heading towards State Road 44, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The reporting party said he believed Hernandez was going to Lady Lake to help a friend who was possibly overdosing. Leesburg and Fruitland Park police were notified of the incident and the vehicle’s direction of travel, and both agencies located it traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 27. Each agency tried to stop the vehicle but was unable to, the report said.
Hernandez, who lives at 1422 Hill St. in Leesburg, was found Sunday night coming out of a residence on U.S. Highway 27 in Fruitland Park. After he was positively identified as the vehicle theft suspect, he was detained. A hypodermic needle was found in his front-right pocket. The deputy retraced Hernandez’s steps and found a clear plastic bag containing a white powder substance on the ground, according to the report.
After being read his Miranda warning, Hernandez denied taking the vehicle and said he was not at the residence where it was stolen. He said he had been at the arrest location for the last couple day, the report said.
Hernandez later said, “the girl had the car.” When asked what girl, he said, “the girl they had at their house.” Hernandez showed knowledge about the vehicle theft despite saying he wasn’t at the residence, according to the report.
Hernandez was charged with grand theft auto and possession of heroin. He has a long list of prior arrests, mostly on drug charges but also for carjacking, criminal mischief, battery, domestic battery, trespassing and another vehicle theft. This was his fifth arrest since last June.
Hernandez was taken to the Lake County Jail, where he was released Monday on $2,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on April 19.
