Public Trust Under Pressure: A Look at Accountability Across Lake County

LCN PUBLIC SERVICE
Accountability • Transparency • Public Trust

Lake County is changing quickly. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the county had 456,068 residents as of July 1, 2025 — an increase of 18.8% from the April 2020 estimates base.

Growth brings more homes, more traffic and more development. It also brings greater demands on police departments, sheriff’s offices, city governments and the public employees responsible for serving a larger community.

That makes institutional trust increasingly important.

Over roughly the past two years, Lake County residents have watched a series of unrelated incidents involving public employees and public institutions: an officer who tested positive for cocaine, officers and supervisors facing internal investigations, a deputy who resigned following a traffic stop that raised questions about how he was treated, a former parks director arrested in a state investigation, and disputes over discipline inside local police departments.

These cases are not identical. Some resulted in sustained internal findings. Some involve criminal allegations. Some remain contested. They should not be treated as evidence that every employee, officer or agency involved is failing.

But taken together, they raise a public-service question worth examining:

As Lake County grows, are the systems used to document misconduct, share information, preserve accountability and maintain public trust growing with it?

Why LCN Is Looking at This

This article is not an argument against law enforcement, local government or the people who work inside those institutions.

Quite the opposite.

The conduct of one employee should not define an entire department. When institutions investigate misconduct, document what occurred and take corrective action, those systems help protect the reputations of the employees who continue doing their jobs professionally.

Accountability and support for public institutions are not competing ideas.

Strong institutions should be capable of identifying problems, addressing them, explaining what happened and showing residents what safeguards exist afterward.

The cases below provide several examples of those systems being tested.

Mount Dora: An Officer Tests Positive for Cocaine

In September 2026, records obtained by WESH 2 and WFTV showed that former Mount Dora Police Officer Jeremiah Murphy had resigned while under internal investigation after testing positive for cocaine.

According to the reporting, the investigation began after Mount Dora police received information alleging off-duty cocaine use. The department developed reasonable suspicion for a drug test, and the internal investigation later sustained multiple policy violations involving illegal drug use, moral character and conduct unbecoming.

Murphy resigned before the investigation was completed. Department records reported by WESH said termination would have been recommended had he remained employed.

The significance of the case extends beyond the positive drug test.

It raises a broader question that appears repeatedly in public-sector accountability cases: **What happens to an investigation when the employee leaves before discipline can be imposed?**

Florida’s statewide professional-compliance process provides part of the answer for certified law-enforcement officers. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says an employing agency must complete an investigation and reach an official disposition when potential certification or moral-character violations are involved, even if the officer resigns, retires or is terminated.

That process matters because employment discipline and an officer’s state certification are separate issues.

Howey-in-the-Hills: A Chief Resigns During an Investigation

Former Howey-in-the-Hills Police Chief Michael Giddens resigned June 3, 2026, while allegations involving his conduct were being investigated.

An internal investigation conducted by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office later found that Giddens had a sexual relationship with the estranged wife of a man he had been investigating in a felony contractor-fraud case. Reporting by News 6 and WFTV, based on the investigative report, said one encounter occurred while Giddens was on duty.

The woman told investigators the relationship was consensual.

Because Giddens was himself the police chief, the town asked the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to conduct the internal investigation. After the investigation was completed, the findings were to be submitted to FDLE professional-compliance staff for review.

That outside review is an important part of the story.

A small department investigating its own chief presents an obvious institutional challenge. Bringing in another agency can provide separation between the person being investigated and the people responsible for determining what happened.

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Mount Dora and Oakland: What Follows an Officer to the Next Agency?

Another Mount Dora case illustrates a different accountability problem: information transfer between agencies.

Former Mount Dora Officer Barry Strykowski was investigated over allegations that he misrepresented his time and attendance. Reporting by WFTV said Mount Dora’s investigation determined he had claimed work time while GPS records placed his department vehicle elsewhere.

Instead of termination appearing on his record, Strykowski entered a separation agreement and resigned.

He was then hired by the Oakland Police Department in Orange County.

WFTV later reported that Oakland had not been given the underlying 22-page Mount Dora investigation before hiring him and that state records characterized his Mount Dora departure as a voluntary separation not involving misconduct.

After WFTV began asking questions, Oakland suspended Strykowski. He was later fired after Oakland investigated whether he had been truthful during the hiring process.

The case expanded again when Mount Dora Capt. Victor Uvalle was fired in 2025 after an internal investigation concluded that an email he sent to Oakland misrepresented Strykowski’s disciplinary history. Uvalle disputed the findings and challenged his termination.

There are individual disputes within that case, but the systemic question is larger:

When a public-safety employee moves from one agency to another, does the hiring agency receive a complete and understandable account of significant prior internal investigations?

A system can technically contain records and still fail if the right information does not reach the people responsible for making the next hiring decision.

Leesburg and LCSO: A Traffic Stop Raises an Equal-Treatment Question

In July 2025, a Leesburg police officer stopped then-Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Preston Leonard while Leonard was driving an unmarked department vehicle.

WFTV reported that Leonard was stopped for driving 17 mph over the posted speed limit. Police video and the officer’s statements documented concerns including slurred speech and watery or red eyes. Leonard identified himself as a deputy.

The officer contacted a supervisor and ultimately allowed Leonard to arrange a ride rather than arresting him. Leonard later resigned from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office while under investigation.

Leesburg officials defended the officer’s handling of the stop while also acknowledging that a supervisor should have responded to the scene and that additional training was appropriate.

The issue here is not for LCN to declare what criminal charge should or should not have been made.

The public-service question is simpler:

Do residents have confidence that professional relationships, badges or agency affiliations do not alter the standard applied during an encounter?

Public confidence often depends as much on the consistency of a process as it does on the final outcome.

LCSO: A Crash, a Phone and Truthfulness

Another case involving the Lake County Sheriff’s Office shows why internal investigations matter even when the initial incident may appear straightforward.

Former Deputy Tristan Macomber crashed his patrol vehicle into another vehicle in Sorrento. An internal investigation found he had been viewing pornographic material on his personal phone before the crash.

Investigators also found that his initial explanation was inaccurate. Reporting based on the internal investigation said Macomber later acknowledged that his earlier account was not truthful and that the phone use was the primary reason for the crash.

The investigation sustained violations involving handheld-device use and truthfulness. Macomber resigned while facing termination.

Here again, the larger institutional point is not merely the underlying behavior.

It is that investigators reviewed body-camera footage, compared statements against available evidence and documented inconsistencies.

That is what an accountability mechanism is supposed to do.

Fruitland Park: Accountability Is Not Only a Law-Enforcement Issue

The conversation should not stop with police departments.

In March 2026, FDLE announced the arrest of former Fruitland Park Parks and Recreation Director Christee Yoder on a charge of fraudulent claim of exemption.

FDLE said a joint investigation with the Florida Department of Revenue and Fruitland Park Police Department found that Yoder had used the city’s tax-exemption certificate while making more than $24,000 in personal purchases through the city’s Amazon business account using her personal credit card.

FDLE alleged the purchases resulted in $1,580 in avoided sales tax. The case was referred to the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, and FDLE said the investigation remained active when the arrest was announced.

An arrest is not a conviction, and the criminal process must determine the outcome of the charge.

But the case demonstrates why institutional-integrity systems must extend beyond sworn law-enforcement agencies. Public purchasing, financial controls, supervisory review and audit trails are all part of public trust.

Groveland: When Accountability Itself Becomes Disputed

In Groveland, accountability has become the subject of a dispute rather than a settled finding.

An internal investigation found Sgt. Alexander Jarrell had driven a department vehicle faster than 100 mph on three occasions while using emergency lights even though he was not responding to an emergency, according to a city termination notice reported by News 6.

Then-Chief Shawn Ramsey disciplined Jarrell with a three-day suspension, loss of his take-home vehicle for 30 days and six months of work probation.

The city later terminated Ramsey, with the termination notice saying his discipline of Jarrell was too lenient and accusing him of misleading city leadership about the number of speeding incidents.

Ramsey disputes the city’s explanation and has filed a federal lawsuit alleging retaliation after he raised other concerns about city government. Those allegations remain contested and have not been proven in court.

Jarrell later resigned.

This case belongs in a different category from sustained misconduct findings because the dispute involving Ramsey remains active.

But it illustrates another accountability challenge: Who reviews the people making disciplinary decisions, and what happens when senior officials disagree over whether discipline was adequate?

These Cases Are Different. The Questions Are Similar.

The cases in this article should not be blended together as though every allegation carries the same weight.

They do not.

But recurring questions appear:

- Are significant internal investigations completed even when an employee resigns?
- Are findings preserved in a way that follows public-safety employees between agencies when legally required?
- Are state oversight bodies receiving the records they are supposed to receive?
- Are supervisors responding consistently when their own employees are involved?
- Are disciplinary decisions documented clearly enough to withstand public scrutiny?
- Are serious incidents leading to policy changes, additional training or stronger controls?
- Can residents easily determine when an investigation is complete and what the final disposition was?
- Are smaller municipalities equipped to investigate senior officials independently?

Those are questions about process, not assumptions about guilt.

Florida Already Has an Accountability Framework

Florida’s Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, supported by FDLE, oversees certification and professional compliance for law-enforcement, correctional and correctional-probation officers.

FDLE says employing agencies must conduct and conclude internal investigations involving potential certification or moral-character violations even when an officer resigns, retires or is terminated.

When allegations are sustained and fall within the Commission’s authority, agencies are required to submit the investigative findings and supporting documentation for professional-compliance review.

Possible certification discipline can include a written reprimand, probation, suspension or revocation.

That statewide framework is important.

The public-service challenge is ensuring local processes reliably feed into it — and ensuring residents can understand when that process has happened.

Growth Raises the Stakes

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lake County’s estimated population increased from a 2020 estimates base of 383,959 to 456,068 residents in 2025 — an 18.8% increase.

That growth changes the scale of government.

More residents mean more calls for service, more employees, more supervisors, more purchasing, more public records, more interagency hiring and more opportunities for systems to be tested.

Accountability infrastructure has to scale alongside everything else.

Growth planning cannot only be about roads, homes, utilities and commercial development.

It also has to include the institutions responsible for serving the people arriving here.

Accountability Protects the People Doing the Job Right

It is easy for misconduct involving one employee to become attached to the reputation of an entire agency.

That is unfair to the employees who show up every day and meet the standards expected of them.

Strong accountability systems help create separation between individual misconduct and institutional culture.

An agency should be able to tell residents:

This happened. We identified it. We investigated it. We documented the result. We took the appropriate action. Here is what happens next.

That does not weaken an institution.

It gives the public a reason to trust it.

A Public Institution Should Be Able to Withstand Public Questions

Lake County is fortunate to have many public employees whose work will never generate a headline.

Their work matters.

So does the public’s ability to distinguish those employees from the relatively small number of cases in which conduct becomes a legitimate matter of public concern.

Public trust is not maintained by pretending problems never occur.

It is maintained when institutions demonstrate that problems can be identified, investigated, documented and corrected.

As Lake County continues to grow, the systems protecting that trust should grow with it.

Greater accountability does not have to mean less support for our institutions. Done correctly, greater accountability is how strong institutions remain strong.

Sources and Records Reviewed

- Florida Department of Law Enforcement — Professional Compliance Process: https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/cjstc/professional-compliance/pc-process-overview
- U.S. Census Bureau — Lake County, Florida QuickFacts: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/lakecountyflorida
- WESH 2 — Mount Dora officer cocaine investigation, Sept. 8, 2026: https://www.wesh.com/article/mount-dora-police-officer-resigns-during-investigation-into-cocaine-use/73645262
- WFTV — Mount Dora officer cocaine investigation, Sept. 8, 2026: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/internal-probe-found-mount-dora-officer-used-cocaine-before-resignation/JWMXJ2FK7NDNDOQNMFYF3DNXBA/
- News 6 — Howey-in-the-Hills former chief investigation, July 16, 2026: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/07/16/ex-howey-in-the-hills-police-chief-was-having-sex-with-wife-of-man-he-was-investigating-report-finds/
- WFTV — Mount Dora/Oakland Strykowski investigation, April 8, 2025: https://www.wftv.com/news/local/central-florida-police-officer-suspended-hours-after-9-investigates-questions-why-he-was-hired/SFGQJUELZFCRZI2NGL3M3ABT4U/
- WFTV — Mount Dora Capt. Victor Uvalle termination, July 30, 2025: https://www.wftv.com/news/9investigates/mount-dora-police-captain-fired-misrepresenting-history-terminated-officer/LARWKTFBN5AQFNXT4WDQBW5WWY/
- WFTV — Lake County deputy Preston Leonard investigation, Aug. 13, 2025: https://www.wftv.com/news/9investigates/lake-county-deputy-resigns-amid-suspicion-dui-investigation/4J7BRFYUHNEHXP3JL3RPVKOMZE/
- WPTV/WESH — Tristan Macomber internal investigation: https://www.wptv.com/news/state/deputy-blames-faulty-brakes-for-slamming-into-woman-investigation-shows-he-was-distracted-by-porn
- FDLE — Former Fruitland Park employee arrest, March 30, 2026: https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/news/2026/march/fdle-fdor-fppd-former-city-of-fruitland-park-employee-arrested-for-fraudulent-claim-of-exemption
- News 6 — Groveland police chief termination dispute, Aug. 26, 2026: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/08/27/termination-notice-says-groveland-police-chief-was-fired-over-discipline-of-speeding-sergeant/
- News 6 — Ramsey lawsuit, Sept. 10, 2026: https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2026/09/10/fired-groveland-police-chief-sues-city-after-super-speeder-sergeant-case/

*Lake County Now welcomes corrections, additional records and responses from any institution or individual referenced in this report. Relevant responses may be added to this article as the reporting continues.*