Cops: $45 Goodwill theft led to shooting, manhunt
The manhunt that shut down busy streets and the Rollins College campus Monday afternoon in Winter Park began when a man suspected of shoplifting at Goodwill shot a man and fired at two police officers, court records show.
The 19-year-old suspect, Jerad Christopher Vasquez, now faces a slew of charges and the possibility of life in prison.
Winter Park police said they were called to the thrift store at 750 N. Orange Ave. about 2:40 p.m. to investigate a shoplifting. The stolen goods were valued at about $45, an arrest affidavit said.
As they were arriving, the man later identified as the theft suspect, 19-year-old Jerad Christopher Vasquez, was seen walking east on Orange near Fairbanks Avenue, the affidavit said.
Asked to return to the store, he ran away, police said. His description was sent over the radio and Vasquez was soon spotted by a police sergeant on the 900 block of Orange, the affidavit said.
The sergeant started driving toward Vasquez, when she saw a male civilian running toward him, the affidavit said.
Vasquez fired at the man, wounding him in the groin, police said.
Vasquez then fired several shots at the sergeant’s patrol car — striking the front windshield and hood, the affidavit said.
Vasquez got into a brief shootout with another Winter Park officer before before police lost sight of him, the affidavit said. During the ensuing search, Rollins students were told to “shelter in place” and police flooded the area, some armed with long rifles.
About 4:30 p.m., police were contacted by Vasquez’s mother, who said her son had sent her messages asking for help.
The messages said he was “surrounded by cops and hiding,” was “scared” and “was not going to jail,” the affidavit said. He asked his mom to come get him, telling her he was on Orange Avenue.
Vasquez’s mother provided detectives a screen shot showing her son was nearby at Full Circle Yoga, 972 N. Orange Ave, the affidavit said.
Officials said he was found hiding under a trailer in the area and was arrested after exchanging gunfire with police.
No officers were hurt during the incident, but the affidavit said the sergeant whose vehicle Vasquez shot told an investigator she feared for her life: “I thought I would die today,” she said.
His mother also helped police identify Vasquez in surveillance footage from the Goodwill store, the affidavit said.
He faces multiple charges of attempted first-degree murder, as well as aggravated battery with great bodily harm, resisting officers with violence, shooting into a vehicle and petty theft.
Vasquez is being held in the Orange County Jail without bail.
Records show Vasquez was arrested in April after he was caught stealing key fobs to cars parked at a hotel near International Drive.
He pleaded to a slew of burglary-related charges and was on a two-year probation term at the time of Monday’s shooting.