Arrests Made in Two-Year-Old Slaying Case, Suspected Pot Grow House

CLERMONT | The first week of May saw a couple of major arrests in this area. In Clermont, an 2-year old slaying case moved forward with the indictment and arrest of 20-year old Bradley Rushing. And in Polk City, 34-year old Reinaldo Martin was arrested and charged with operating a grow house at 6129 Fussell Road.

COLD CASE

Rushing has been charged with the Nov. 21, 2005 murder of his stepfather, Norman Garlock, at Garlock's home in unincorporated Lake County, just south of Clermont.

Rushing had already moved out of the house and was living in Orlando. According to a police report, he became a suspect early on in the investigation because within a week of the slaying, he told a relative that his stepfather had been beaten and shot with a .22 rifle.

In December of that year, responding to a complaint about a disturbance, officers in Orlando went to Rushing's address and recovered Garlock's wallet on the ground outside the residence, together with a .22 rifle. Lake County detectives subsequently asked for the public's help, hoping to get the person who made the original, anonymous "disturbance" call to come forward.

The final piece in the puzzle, prior to the turning over of the case to the Lake County grand jury, was that on April 8, investigators say they located two witnesses who claimed that Rushing had bragged to them about committing the slaying, and had revealed to them details only an insider would know.

Rushing's case was reviewed by the grand jury May 2, and he was arrested later that day.

DRUG BUST

Reinaldo Martin was arrested on May 6, following an investigation by Polk County's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force. Neighbors had alerted authorities that something didn't seem right at the address.

When detectives located the man living at the address, he gave them permission for the search, detectives said. The detectives found four rooms were being used for mature marijuana plants. One room was being used to grow seedlings. In all, 40 mature plants and 103 seedlings were confiscated, along with 13 pounds of processed marijuana, plant-growing equipment, a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun and a 4-wheeled ATV.

Martin has been charged with trafficking in cannabis (more than 25 pounds), possession of cannabis with the intent to sell, maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of drug use, cultivation of cannabis, and possession of paraphernalia.

POINCIANA DEATH

An autopsy will be performed determine why a 36-year-old man was found dead outside his home May 8.

Benjamin Nick Gonzalez was found lying face-down in the grass next to his driveway at 664 Reindeer Drive by Alex Ortiz, an employee with the Poinciana Public Works Department.

Ortiz was mowing a common area when he noticed the car in the driveway with the door open and heard a baby crying inside the car.

Ortiz discovered Gonzalez lying next to the car.

"I pretty much seen a guy on the floor and he was dead," Ortiz said.

When deputies arrived, they found Gonzalez's 14-month-old son strapped into a car seat inside the car. Investigators do not know whether the two had just returned home or were leaving.

Gonzalez had no obvious trauma to his body and foul play is not suspected, deputies said.

[ Linda Charlton can be reached at 352-223-8224. Mike Grogan, who can be reached at Mike.Grogan@theledger.com, contributed to this report. ]