A man accused of shooting a passing motorist during a gunfight at a Leesburg minimart earlier this week is behind bars.
Officers with the Leesburg Police Department’s Crime Suppression Unit arrested 30-year-old Jasmic Tyrone Holden, of Live Oak, late Thursday night after a high-speed chase. Officers had spotted Holden’s vehicle at an apartment complex on Lucas Street and were waiting to arrest him when he came outside.
Holden is accused of shooting an innocent motorist who was driving past Tyler’s Friendly Market on Griffin Road near Carver Middle School early Monday afternoon. Officers believe Holden was in a shootout with another person on the side of the market at the corner of Griffin Road and Tuskegee Street when the shooting occurred. The victim stopped at a nearby Leesburg fire station, where he was treated by paramedics and then airlifted to an Orlando hospital.
On Thursday night, Leesburg officers initiated a traffic stop on Holden’s vehicle one block west of the Lucas Street apartments. He fled from them and a pursuit ensued, with deputies from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s Street Crimes Unit providing assistance, a Leesburg Police report says.
The pursuit continued to Harlem Avenue, where officers used Stop Sticks to flatten Holden’s tires. He then drove into a wooded area on Mispah Avenue, abandoned the car and fled on foot. Additional Leesburg officers responded, including a K-9 unit, and Holden was taken into custody a short time later, the report says.
Holden, who is originally from Leesburg and listed his occupation as laborer, was booked into the Lake County Jail early Friday morning. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, fleeing and eluding, operating a motor vehicle without a driver’s license, tag not assigned and resisting arrest without violence. He is being held on $504,000 bond and is due in court July 13 at 8:30 a.m. to answer to the charges.
