MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – Leroy Parks III, the fugitive sought in multiple crimes after a shooting was reported last week in Ocklawaha, has been arrested.
Following a call just after noon on Friday, August 14, 2026, advising that a man fitting Parks’s description was sleeping in a resident’s yard, Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies located Parks along the 11800 block of NE 139th Place in Fort McCoy and arrested.
Parks was treated by medics for dehydration and a possible snake bite before being transported to Marion County Jail, where he remains without bond.
Authorities began looking for Parks on Thursday, August 13 after responding to a report of a shooting in Ocklawaha. When they got there, a shooting victim was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but Parks had fled the scene.
During the investigation, Parks stole both a truck from an assisted living facility and a Nissan Titan pickup.
Authorities located the Titan pickup Thursday, but Parks fled the scene on foot into a wooded area and managed to elude capture.
He is now charged with Aggravated Battery with a Firearm, Armed Burglary of a Conveyance, Armed Trespassing, Grand Theft of a Vehicle with Property Damage, Grand Theft of a Firearm, Criminal Mischief, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony, three counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and two counts of Violation of Parole. He was also technically arrested by the Ocala Police Department for similar and related charges that occurred in their jurisdiction.