http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-locmshooting08080805aug08,0,6996101.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
Posted August 8, 2005
Lorenzo Baker, 29, was shot in Orlo Vista and pronounced dead later at a hospital, officials said.
The incident began just before midnight. David Mathis, 20, said he was heading to a club with friends when four men forced them back into his mother's Orlo Vista home, demanding the keys to her shimmering green show car.
They pistol-whipped Mathis and a friend and forced seven people in the home onto the floor, demanding the car keys.
Mathis' brother, Alvin Johnson, managed to escape outside the home and called police.
Another car blocked the bright green Mercury Grand Marquis, and the thieves were not able to take it. They did take a set of show rims, crashing through the yard and taking a chunk out of the base of a tree in their haste to escape, family members said.
Larry Smith, 45, who was also in the house, said that after the thieves ran out, they heard shots.
The older brother of someone from the house was called and arrived in a red Ford Explorer to confront the suspects, (he arrived before police...) Orange County sheriff's spokeswoman Barbara Miller said. The man, whose name was not released and who is not expected to face charges, exchanged fire with the suspects, she said.
Baker was shot while in the driveway.
Michael Roberts, Bob Chambers and Dave Howard fled in a white Oldsmobile Delta 88, Miller said. Deputies followed the car to Apopka, where one of the suspects fired on deputies and Cpl. Keith Vidler returned fire.
A sheriff's K-9 dog caught Roberts, 20, and Chambers, 18, turned himself in Sunday. Howard, 23, was arrested Sunday after showing up at Florida Hospital Orlando with a gunshot wound to his arm.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was investigating the shooting by Vidler, Miller said. Vidler was placed on two-week administrative leave.
Earlier Saturday night, two armed men broke through the front door of a Eustis house on Hazzard Avenue in an apparent robbery attempt, Eustis police Lt. Danny Provencher said.
One of the four people inside tried to fight the intruders and was shot in the chest. The man, who police would not identify, was flown to Orlando Regional Medical Center and was listed in critical condition, he said.
Police said one of the attackers -- Mario Reeves, 27, of Winter Garden -- also was shot. Reeves was found dead about 40 yards from the house, but it was unclear who shot him, Provencher said.