A Clermont man held at the Lake County Jail for allegedly throwing a rock at a man’s truck last July offered to pay a fellow inmate $5,000 this week to kill a witness in his case, according to a Sheriff’s report.
Read more “A black box”: Watchdog hopes to pry loose Hope Florida court records
David Butka, 69, now faces a felony charge of solicitation to commit murder and is being held without bond.
On Wednesday, an inmate told a detention supervisor that Butka approached him and offered to pay him in exchange for killing a witness in his aggravated assault case, according to a Sheriff’s press release.
“The inmate was able to provide physical evidence, and a Lake County Sheriff’s Office major crimes investigator” began a criminal investigation, Lake Sgt. Jim Vachon said in an email.
After investigators interviewed Butka about the accusation, he was charged with the felony, authorities said.
Butka’s initial arrest was for an incident on the night of July 22, when two people were saying goodbye outside a home on Royal Vista Avenue in Clermont. They noticed Butka flying a drone over the area, according to an arrest report.
Read more Florida jobless rate falls for third consecutive month
As one of the two people drove away slowly in a red Mazda truck, witnesses said Butka threw what appeared to be a rock at the truck, causing damage, authorities said in the report.
Butka later told investigators that the victim and others at the home were “instigating him by speeding down the road,” according to the Sheriff’s report.
He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, and was being held on a $2,000 bond. That bond has since been revoked after the new charge was filed by the State Attorney’s Office.
Butka had been previously arrested on March 8 for simple battery on an unrelated case after a 15-year-old boy claimed that Butka assaulted him while riding his dirt bike, according to court records.
Witnesses said Butka accused the boy of speeding through the neighborhood, pushed him off his bike and kicked him, according to a Sheriff’s report. Butka pleaded not guilty in that case, according to court records.
Read more Bianchi: 60 years later, Steve and Jerri Spurrier are the greatest Gator love story ever told