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On a quiet street in Hawthorne, Florida, an unsettling sequence of events unfolded, leading to the arrest of 46-year-old Norman Israel Colon from Interlachen. Colon, whose legal troubles have marked him as a fugitive by the Florida Department of Corrections, found himself at the center of a dramatic incident involving vehicle theft, armed robbery, battery, and drug possession, all while being on probation.
The trouble began, according to reports, when a woman arrived at a Hawthorne residence on March 20 intending to pick up her father. Instead, she encountered Colon, her former boyfriend. As she exited her vehicle, Colon emerged from the house, demanding the keys to the car she had purchased earlier this year. Notably, the vehicle is registered solely in her name, as confirmed by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy who responded to the call.
In a shocking turn, Colon reportedly wielded a pistol, issuing a dire warning that he would shoot anyone who interfered with him. The situation was intense, yet a bystander, an unidentified black male, intervened, urging Colon to put the weapon away. Colon complied, placing the gun in a nearby parked vehicle but remained adamant in his demands for the car keys.
The tension escalated further when Colon allegedly attempted to enlist help to intimidate the victim. He reportedly offered a woman $100 to physically assault the victim to obtain the keys. This confrontation culminated in Colon allegedly shoving the woman to the ground. Overcome with fear for her safety, she reluctantly handed over her keys, bringing the distressing episode to a close.
At that point, Colon allegedly offered to pay an unidentified woman $100 to “beat” the victim to get the keys. Colon and the woman approached the victim, and Colon allegedly shoved the victim to the ground. In fear for her safety, the victim said she gave him her keys.
The victim reportedly showed the deputy screenshots of texts from Colon in which he threatened to kill her if she called the police.
Colon allegedly removed the license plate from the victim’s car and replaced it with a different tag.
Deputies later reportedly found Colon sitting in the front driver’s seat of the victim’s vehicle, and he was arrested on charges related to this incident, as well as a VOP warrant out of Putnam County and another warrant out of Pennsylvania.
Deputies reportedly saw drugs and needles in plain view in the vehicle, and a probable cause search of the vehicle produced 15.34 grams of methamphetamine, 15.22 grams of cocaine, 37 suboxone strips, two Percocet pills, and two suboxone pills, along with a large quantity of a white substance that is suspected of being a cutting agent and empty plastic baggies. A Glock pistol matching the description provided by the victim was reportedly found in the trunk.
Colon has been charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, felony battery, display of a firearm during the commission of a felony, grand theft of a motor vehicle, trafficking in methamphetamines, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of drug equipment, and criminal solicitation. His full criminal history is unavailable, but he has at least two felony convictions out of Pennsylvania, has served one state prison sentence in Florida (released in 2022), and is currently on drug offender probation out of Putnam County. Judge Sheree Lancaster ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.