LEESBURG, Fla. – Two men went into a Comcast store for the “third time within a week” and they left under arrest for three felonies and more. They’re accused of “presenting fraudulent ID cards and a credit card,” and store employees knew to call police.
The suspects in Central Florida were trying to buy “an Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max and an Apple iPad total valued at $1,749.98,” one of two employees told police. “They had presented a fraudulent FL DL [Florida driver’s license] and credit card matching the FL DL.”
According to the arrest report from Nov. 26, “This raised suspicion because the subjects originally entered the store on Nov. 21, 2024, at approximately 4:30 p.m., then a second time later that night.”
They said James Lee Lynd gave an employee “a FL DL issued to the victim. [The other employee] observed the FL DL photo and realized the picture did not match the defendant. The FL DL showed the victim as a 6-foot 1-inch male, whereas the defendant was an approximately 5-foot 2-inch thin male.”
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office listed Lynd as 5-foot 7-inches when he was booked.
“The defendant was not speaking” and co-defendant Tyson Nono Occenat “stated he was the translator for the defendant, and claimed he was his father.
“The defendants were wanting to take the business line account (that’s associated with the victim) and transfer it over to a mobile line, to put on the new mobile device they were attempting to purchase. [An employee] stated that she was speaking with both defendants and they did not appear to have any issues speaking English, and did not understand why a translator was needed.
“The defendants told [the employee] they were visiting and not from the area, because the victim’s address is located in South Florida. When [the employee] was collecting the FL DL and payment information, the co-defendant presented his issued FL DL that matched his identity.
“The payment was declined by staff because the FL DL and the name on the credit card did not match, and [was] unable to be processed. The defendants left and returned at approximately 6:14 p.m., which was already reported to Comcast’s security department by the witnesses.
“[Lynd] gave [an employee] the victim’s FL DL and she took a picture of it for their security manager, and to send to [the other employee]. [The first employee] began asking personal identifying information questions to the defendant, which he hesitated to answer, and kept looking at his co-defendant for answers. The co-defendant told both witnesses the defendant was hard of hearing. Since the defendants were unable to provide the victim’s email address that’s on the account, the staff did not proceed processing, and told the defendants to call back at a later time as something was ‘wrong’ with the system.
“The witnesses advised they found their store’s protocol based on their conversation with the security manager, and the suspicions that were being raised.
“After receiving this information from the witnesses,” the police officer continued, “[one of them] handed me the FL DL and ID card that she was given by the defendants. I looked at the defendant and asked him if the FL DL I was holding was his, and he advised multiple times that it was his, and began reciting the personal information on the FL DL. The co-defendant also stated that the FL ID card was his, although he did not resemble the photograph, and was later determined it was not him, resulting in [a second victim].
“I asked [an employee] if the FL ID was the same one presented on Nov. 21, 2024, which she stated no because the name that was originally provided that day was the defendant’s real name. The co-defendant was telling [another officer] that they are not from this area and visiting from South Florida.
“From personal knowledge and experience, as I lived in the exact area where the victim is located, I began asking geographical questions to determine if they were truly from South Florida. The co-defendant was providing incorrect answers and began to search for the location on his cell phone. I determined that the co-defendant was not telling the truth, and asked both defendants to step outside. I had the defendant follow me to my vehicle, as [another officer] began speaking with the co-defendant.
“I looked at the defendant and held up the FL DL, specifically asking him if the FL DL was his, to which he stated ‘yes’ and began answering my personal identifying questions. During this time, [an employee] yelled over to me that the co-defendant was running. I observed [the other officer] in a foot pursuit with the co-defendant and I began to chase after him.”
Occenat’s arrest report described the chase, saying he ran “north of the business, over two highways, and into a Subaru car dealership. Assistance from [two other police agencies] resulted in the defendant being located and detained after he was observed by [an officer] exiting a bystander’s vehicle and ran eastbound from officers, where he was then successfully detained and searched incident to arrest.
“The bystander advised he was sitting in his vehicle when he observed the defendant running, and waved him down to ask for a ride. Once the bystander observed LPD police vehicles, he told the defendant to get out, and observed the defendant run across the street. A [computer search] of the defendant through LPD dispatch revealed an active full extradition Orange County warrant as of Sept. 5, 2024.”
Occenat was arrested, and an employee got the victim on the phone.
“He has no affiliation with Leesburg,” the officer reported, “and did not give anyone permission to make changes to his Comcast account, or use his FL DL and credit card. It should be noted, when I searched the defendant, I located a credit card with the victim’s name on it in his front right pocket. The victim stated he was currently in possession of his FL DL and I asked if his had been replaced, which he advised no, and I observed the one that defendant gave me showed a replacement date of June 10, 2024. The victim stated he does not have a credit card affiliated with that bank and that he wanted to prosecute.”
Lynd was put in the back of a police car and the officer wrote, “He asked me if he would be able to get his personal belongings from the co-defendant’s vehicle because his ‘real ID’ was in there.”
Both Lynd and Occenat were charged with scheming to defraud, grand theft fraud $750-$5,000, ID theft with use of personal information, possessing a fraudulent driver’s license, and giving false ID to law enforcement.
Bail for Lynd, 68, was set at $12,500 and he was released after two days in jail.
Occenat, 28, faces an additional charge of resisting without violence for trying to escape. His bond was set at $15,000, and he has not been released.
He had a lot of business in nearby Orange County, where he was wanted in a few cases. One of them also involved someone a lot older than him.
Occenat violated probation after he and an elderly woman were in an Orlando credit union, “trying to take out a loan together … in a fraudulent manner,” that arrest report said.
“The female stated Occenat did some work for her around her house,” an officer wrote in November 2022. “At this time during the conversation, I thought the female was a victim who was being deceived by Occenat to open an account.”
The officer said the woman “looked nervous,” and, “She was unable to give her address which was on the driver’s license she presented. She said she was 81 years old; however, the age based on the ID date of birth should be 83. I also noticed the female was wearing a wig.
“When I challenged the female on my observations, she immediately started crying and said she did not know Occenat. She also said she was not [the person on the license], and wanted to speak with me.”
She reportedly told the officer “she is a transient and was walking” around “when she was approached by Occenat. Occenat gave her [the victim’s] driver’s license and told her to pose as [the victim], dress in a wig, and retrieve a loan in the amount of $20,000. Occenat gave [the woman] a piece of paper with notes, which had [the victim’s] personal information, which even included her employer and her mother’s maiden name.”
The woman was charged. So was Occenat, with defrauding a financial institution, grand theft, and scheming to defraud.
In August 2023, he pleaded no contest to those charges, and three charges from previous crimes.
Order of Probation, Aug. 18, 2023 by Lenny Cohen on Scribd
For each of those six charges, he was sentenced to two days in jail with credit for two days served.
He also got probation through Aug. 17, 2028, but violated it 11 days later with his arrest for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Osceola County. His girlfriend “climbed out” a window and told police “Occenat had a knife and was threatening to kill her,” the arrest report said. “[She] was breathing heavily, frantic, and appeared afraid.”
Soon, the victim signed an affidavit saying she did not “desire the case be prosecuted further, and request the charges be dismissed.” Authorities followed suit a month later, deciding “this case is not suitable for prosecution,” and the charge was dropped, but that didn’t matter much.
Occenat was arrested a second time on Oct. 17, 2023, for giving the police officer who stopped him for driving with an expired registration someone else’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number. The arrest report said he called “a person he identified as his sister,” and said in Creole that she “should get in contact with his wife and tell her not to be alarmed when he calls her because he would be booked into the jail under a different name.” He didn’t realize the officer understood what he said in the foreign language.
Orange County found other probation violations: not “reporting to the probation office within 72 hours of release from any incarceration,” moving without permission, and breaking three other laws.
“The offender has willfully displayed a total disregard for the law,” the state said, and that his “recent violation history reflects that the offender is escalating in continuous criminal behavior. The offender has four pending cases (3 in Orange County and 1 in Osceola County) in a matter of 2 months.”
Occenat also failed to appear on a charge of driving with a suspended license from June 2023, and on three charges from October 2023: driving without a valid license as a habitual offender, providing false ID to law enforcement, and resisting without violence.
Plus, he has a pending case for driving with a suspended license in March 2023, and three civil traffic infractions pending.
Early in his criminal career, in 2017, Occenat pleaded no contest to a shoplifting charge and was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
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