Lake City man charged with molesting Green Cove girl 

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A Lake City man was arrested and charged with molesting a girl younger than 12 in what the Green Cove Springs Police Department believes was a pattern of “preying on young girls.” 

Michael Steven Dukes, 43, was transported from the Columbia County Jail to Clay County, where he is being held without bond, after he was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior: molestation of a child younger than 12. 

According to the arrest report, a mother called the police department on Dec. 5, 2024, to report that her daughter had been sexually abused since she was 11, between Aug. 1, 2021, and Jan. 31, 2024. 

GCSPD learned that Dukes knew when the girls would be vulnerable. "He has shown intent with the absence of mistake or accident, as he assaulted each victim multiple times.” 

Credible statements by the victim, along with statements by prior victims, led to the arrest, GCSPD said. 

Dukes will return to court on Nov. 17. 

Burned-out license tag bulb leads to trafficking meth arrest 

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – A traffic stop for a burned-out license tag light led to the arrest of a Keystone Heights man for trafficking 28.56 grams of methamphetamine on Wednesday, Oct. 22. 

Noah Jefferson Davis, 43, is being held at the Clay County Jail with a $155,005 bond after being charged with trafficking and possession of drug paraphernalia. 

According to the arrest report, a Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted Davis driving a pickup truck on State Road 100, and the license tag light wasn’t illuminated. He stopped Davis and noticed a scale dusted with white powder on the dashboard. Davis allowed the deputy to search the truck, and he found a bag with 28.56 grams of methamphetamine in the glove box. He also found two syringes. 

Davis was also given a citation for the burned-out license tag bulb. 

18-year-old killed in head-on collision at Clay High 

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – An 18-year-old driving the wrong way on State Road 16 was killed shortly before school started at Clay High on Wednesday, Oct. 22, in a head-on collision, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. 

David Nicholas McLaren Jr. died at the scene, FHP said, after he was traveling westbound in the eastbound lane when his car clipped the left rear of a pickup truck that was in the westbound lane at Randall Road. McLaren’s car continued westbound in the on-coming lane and was struck head-on by a car driven by Scott Hakes, 21, of Jacksonville. 

Hakes was hospitalized with broken ribs, eye socket, nose and leg. He told First Coast News the impact was horrific. 

“That car came in my lane and smoked me, smoked the hell out of me fast,” he said. 

Hakes said it will take months of rehabilitation before he can walk again. 

The driver of the truck that was struck from behind wasn’t injured. Nobody involved in the accident was a student or staff member at Clay High. The crash happened 30 minutes before classes started at 7 a.m., and the investigation shut down all lanes of S.R. 16 for 8 hours, 55 minutes – two hours after classes ended. Students were required to use the rear entrance to leave the school. 

Jacksonville woman arrested after series of car break-ins 

ORANGE PARK – A 33-year-old woman was arrested for a series of car break-ins after claiming she took the backpack containing the stolen property from another woman after they smoked fentanyl. 

Lacey Deanna Perry, of Jacksonville, was charged with four counts of burglary and the unlawful possession of five or more identities after Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies and detectives determined Perry entered several cars along Blairmore Boulevard on Oct. 13. 

According to a revised arrest report, Perry said she, a woman named “Sarah" and an unidentified man smoked fentanyl until the other two passed out. Perry said she took Sarah’s backpack because she knew there was more fentanyl inside. 

She told deputies she smoked more fentanyl, then tried to find an unlocked car to sleep in. However, surveillance footage showed she entered the cars, and the owners all reported missing items found inside the backpack. 

She was released after posting a $50,015 bond. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 10.