Deputies from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office have detained a guy they claim pulled a 62-year-old woman out of bed at 2:20 a.m., beat her with a rifle stock, threatened and robbed her as her helpless crippled husband watched.
Apopka resident David P. Soldani Jr., 28, has been charged with the home invasion and robbery that took place on November 18, 2022. In addition, he is accused with two counts of aggravated assault with the intent to commit a felony, grand theft auto, credit card theft, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
The woman gave a phone number that ended out not to belong to anyone and initially described her attacker as “Joey,” a friend of her late son. She described him as bald and of stocky build, and stated he was donning a tan or brown sweatshirt or jacket.
According to jail records, Soldani is 5-foot-9 and weighs 250 pounds.
According to court documents, the disturbing occurrence involved an elderly couple.
The victim claimed that after being knocked to the ground, the suspect raised a rifle and threatened to murder her if she called the police.
She claimed that he started removing items, including a debit card, from her pocketbook. The keys to her 2011 black Santa Fe were also taken by him.
The broken butt stock of what turned out to be a BB or pellet rifle was discovered after a thorough investigation of the space. The investigator stated in his report that “the pellet rifle could be considered a deadly weapon,” mentioning a case he once worked when a person was murdered by a pellet gun.
The victim claimed the assailant punched her in the ribs, and she worried they would be broken. She also claimed to have a wound on her arm, but when EMS arrived, she rejected to get it treated.
Hours later, two cell phones and the stolen car were found in Orange County.
Then, detectives from Apopka called Lake investigators to inform them that Soldani was a suspect in the Nov. 18 robbery of a 7-Eleven that occurred at 3:49 a.m. The woman recognized Soldani in a photo lineup put together by the detectives.
Someone allegedly attempted to use a family member’s debit card three times that morning.
“The last attempt using the debit was at a 7-Elevent gas station in the amount of $102.95 at 3:38 a.m., which was two minutes prior to the same location reporting a robbery by the suspect …,” the arrest affidavit stated.
Two times, Soldani has been found guilty of felonies. For a robbery in Orange County, he was released from prison in February of last year.
