Suspect caught in Lake Wales vandalism; police say he had ties to competing company
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LAKE WALES, Fla. (WFLA) — Months after a Lake Wales insurance business was vandalized with Molotov cocktails and the words, “Civil War Trump,” detectives believe they have cracked the case.

Lake Wales police said Thursday they identified Jason Roberts as the suspect responsible for vandalizing the UniVista Insurance business on March 20.

Roberts, they discovered, is the brother of the co-owner of Logical Insurance, a competing insurance company in the same plaza as UniVista.

Investigators said they were able to develop Roberts as a suspect using surveillance footage. The video showed a light-colored Toyota Prius in the plaza around the same time two bottles of flammable liquid were thrown through the front lobby glass of UniVista.

(UniVista Insurance)

The Molotov cocktails scorched the floor and filled the space with smoke.

Police also found the words, “Civil War Trump” spray painted on the business, and a bullet hole in a wall directly opposite the front door. The bullet traveled through two rooms and was found lodged in a wall, according to authorities.

The businessowner, German Portillo, told News Channel 8 he’s owned UniVista Insurance for eight years, but had only been open at the location for three weeks.

“What is the message that you want, that you want to give? Because apparently there was a message sent. You want me out of here? Why? You want me to do business? Why don’t you like me? Why? That’s my question,” Portillo said immediately after the incident.

Detectives later determined that the Toyota Prius seen in the area belonged to Sarasota Pathology, a company in which Roberts was the courier supervisor for their subsidiary, SaraPath Diagnostics.

Officials said Roberts resigned on March 24 after not showing up for work for at least two days in a row. The company’s HR director informed detectives that Roberts had no legitimate work-related business in Lake Wales at the time of the March 20 incident.

Investigators found Roberts on July 17 in Jasper, Georgia. Pickens County deputies assisted in taking Roberts into custody.

According to Lake Wales police, Roberts is being charged with armed burglary, arson, shooting into a dwelling, felony criminal mischief, discharging a firearm in public and two counts of possession of fire bombs.

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