A Leesburg teen was arrested at Burger King for taking his mother’s vehicle without permission and damaging it in the process.
An officer responded to a vehicle theft, later found to involve 19-year-old Terrence Solomon Cruder, at an undisclosed Lake County residence around 12:59 p.m. Jan. 11 according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department.
Upon arrival, the officer met with the female victim who advised that she parked her silver 2007 Pontiac passenger car at her residence around 8 p.m. Jan. 10. There was no damage to her vehicle at that time. At about 11:30 a.m. Jan. 11, she observed damage to the front bumper and right headlight of her vehicle, the report said.
The victim stated her son, Cruder, took her vehicle without her permission. He had done this in the past wherein he crashed her vehicle. She estimated about $1,460 in damage to the vehicle and desired prosecution, the report said.
The officer also spoke to a witness who advised multiple times that at about 3 a.m. Saturday, he observed Cruder in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, backing it into its parking space at the front of the residence. He then got out of the vehicle and walked to the back of the residence to go inside, the report said.
The victim told the officer that Cruder was at work and gave him the location, a Burger King located at 4563 CR 48, Okahumpka. Officers subsequently made contact with Cruder at his place of employment and arrested him for the incident, the report said.
Additionally, dispatch advised that Cruder is on felony probation in Lake County from Oct. 21, 2024, to Oct. 17, 2026, for possession of a controlled substance and burglary of an unoccupied structure, the report said.
Cruder was charged with theft vehicle (passenger car/SUV/minivan) and transported to Lake County Jail to be held without bond.