A 43-year-old Orlando man was arrested when he was allegedly caught in the act of installing a skimmer at a Lake County gas station pump, deputies say.
Lazaro Castro was arrested over the weekend after fleeing a Yalaha gas station, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Jaykumaz Patel, the gas station’s manager, said he had been experiencing issues with the pumps for several weeks, but couldn’t figure out what the issue was.
“When I saw the error, I checked my system and it was running great,” he said. “Since two weeks, my security seals were breaking.”
On Saturday, he noticed a person doing something suspicious at one of the pumps.
“His door was open, so I didn’t see what he was doing, and my gas pump door was open,” Patel said. “But the wire was going inside, so he was definitely skimming.”
Patel then confronted Castro, who initially tried to intimidate the business manager.
That is, until Patel pulled out a gun.
“When he saw me, he yelled and I pulled the gun out and put it on him and told him to get down on the ground,” Patel said.
Castro got in the truck and sped away, nearly hitting other vehicles as he fled, Patel said.
Castro was arrested a short time later, deputies said.
“Obviously, this is something that he has done before,” Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Fred Jones said.
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