APOPKA, Fla. – An Apopka man is facing charges after he said he fired a shot into a mobile home that missed a boy's head by a matter of inches, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said the suspect, identified later as Jake Alexander Lopez, 27, told authorities that he shot fleeing from his mobile home, which is in the Clarcona Resort mobile home park, after a fight broke out the evening of Feb. 28.
Two to three men were at Lopez's home when the fight started and eventually spilled into the parking lot, according to the arrest report.
One man pulled out a handgun and fired a shot while fighting with Lopez and another man, deputies said. The man lost control of the gun and dropped it when he was punched before taking off in a truck that was later determined to have been stolen, deputies said.
Lopez told authorities that he picked up the gun and chased the truck on foot while shooting at it and the driver, the report said. He continued shooting until the gun was empty, he told deputies.
While firing the gun, he shot into a nearby trailer, narrowly missing a boy who was sitting on a couch inside the home, authorities said.
The boy's mother, who was inside with her boyfriend and three children when the shooting took place, called 911 to report the shooting. The Sheriff's Office posted bulletins that included details about the incident and the truck involved.
Deputies said Lopez was arrested March 1 after he was found driving a stolen vehicle with the gun used in the shooting inside it. A small bag of what was believed to be heroin was also found in the vehicle, which was reported stolen to the Mount Dora Police Department, the report said.
Lopez told deputies that he was defending himself when he shot the gun while chasing the truck in the mobile home park neighborhood, saying he feared the fleeing driver was trying to run him over, according to the report.
Deputies said Lopez expressed remorse for shooting into the home and said he would like to apologize to the resident, the report said.
Lopez was arrested and charged with shooting into an occupied structure, according to the report. He was also charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony and possession of heroin, according to the Sheriff's Office.