[Nlnicholson]

Two suspects now in custody after Friday burglary in Village of Amelia
March 21, 2014 By Meta Minton 44 Comments

Sumter County sheriff’s deputies arrested one suspect Friday in a burglary in the Village of Amelia.

Two suspects are now in custody following a burglary in broad daylight Friday afternoon the Village of Amelia.

A pest control man noticed a suspicious vehicle and saw a man walking in between two houses in the 600 block of Inner Circle at roughly 3 p.m. The pest control man dialed 911.

When a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy arrived, he saw one male sitting in the car. Another male was involved in a burglary in progress. Entry to the home had been gained through a window.

Jeremy Benjamin, 20, was immediately taken into custody while Derreon Ware, 20, took off on foot toward Lake County.
Lake County sheriff’s deputies and Lady Lake police officers helped establish a search perimeter on Cherry Lake Road.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office helicopter hovered over County Road 466 in the general vicinity of the Haciendas of Mission Hills, the Village of Caroline, and the Village of Amelia for about an hour.

A sheriff’s bloodhound also joined in the search. The bloodhound lost the suspect’s scent in the Cherry Lake area.
Residents of the Village of Amelia and some neighboring Villages received a reverse 911 call from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office advising them of the situation at 4:25 p.m.

Benjamin, while being interviewed at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Annex at County Road 466 and Morse Boulevard, admitted to a second Villages burglary. He is being held at the Sumter County Jail.
Ware is being held at the Lake County Jail. He was arrested at a home outside Leesburg at 7 p.m. Friday.

This past Saturday, March 15, there had been a burglary in the nearby Village of Mallory Square in the 500 block of Society Hill Circle. That burglary occurred between 11:30 and 11:55 a.m. that day. A bedroom sliding glass door was broken open. Jewelry and $600 in cash were taken.