LAKE COUNTY, Fla — A man and woman were arrested in Lake County after deputies say they pulled a U-Haul truck up to an empty residence and started loading up property.
The incident was reported about 2:45 p.m. Thursday when Donald and Jennifer Herst came home from running errands to find the U-Haul parked in their driveway and their garage open.
When the suspects, identified as Amanda Kay Roberts, 31, and Jack Ronald Hayes, 37, saw that the homeowners had returned, they jumped into the truck and tried to flee, deputies said.
Donald Herst told investigators that Hayes was in the passenger seat and Roberts was driving when they intentionally backed the truck into his vehicle.
The pair then drove into the Hersts' back yard, causing damage to a vinyl fence, before driving east on Treasure Island Road, deputies said.
The Hersts said they followed the U-Haul, which eventually crashed into a tree in the 8900 block of East Treasure Island Road.
The suspects jumped out of the truck and ran into the woods, but Roberts returned to the U-Haul briefly to grab her purse out of the driver's seat, investigators said.
They were found lying in the brush in the woods across from Cemetery Avenue and County Road 44, deputies said.
Roberts and Hayes were taken to Leesburg Regional Medical Center for treatment of injuries that they suffered when the U-Haul crashed into the tree.
Both were arrested and charged with burglary to a structure, grand theft from someone 65 years old or older, aggravated battery with a vehicle and criminal mischief.
They were being held at the Lake County Jail in lieu of $17,000 bonds.
WFTV
