LEESBURG, Va. — A Leesburg man has been charged with his father’s murder as a community is mourning the loss of a beloved brewer in Northern Virginia.
On Saturday morning, the Leesburg Police Department (LPD) found Dean Lake dead with serious injuries to his upper body.
Lake, 54, was the director of brewing operations at Black Hoof Brewing Company, a microbrewery in downtown Leesburg.
Police released a statement Sunday saying Lake’s 21-year-old son, Schuyler Lake, faces charges for his father’s death.
According to LPD, officers received a call Saturday morning about a "suspicious event" at the 400 block of South King Street in Leesburg. When officers arrived, Dean Lake was found dead.
LPD released an initial statement Saturday afternoon about Dean Lake's death asking for help locating Schuyler Lake "due to mental and/or physical health concerns." Officers found the 21-year-old before evening hit at Russell Branch Parkway Southeast and Battlefield Parkway Southeast. He was taken into police custody.
Hours after learning about Dean Lake's death, brewers from across the region made their way to the Black Hoof Brewing Company to pay their tributes.
“I think we’re all just in shock,” Sydney Ritenour, a neighbor to the Lake family told WUSA9 in an interview. “The more that got released the more that we were able to see on the articles we were just more and more in shock of this picture of just oh no.”
Dean Lake was well known in the Northern Virginia brewing community as a respected brewer, good friend, and great human being, colleagues said.
“Dean had a reputation, he had been a part of a lot of people’s careers in the brewing industry in Northern Virginia,” Joshua Rose, a bartender at Black Hoof Brewing Company said. "Not long after we heard the news, we saw people from the brewing community show up brewers, taproom managers, general managers."
Police say Schuyler Lake is being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center. In addition to a second-degree murder charge, Schuyler Lake is charged with credit card theft and credit card fraud.
“There are no other persons of interest in this investigation at this time and there is no further danger to the community,” the police statement says.
The Criminal Investigation Section of LPD is continuing to investigate this case.
Anyone with relevant information can call Detective M. Kadric at 703-771-4500. Those who have anonymous information can call the Leesburg Crime Line at 703-443-8477. People can also text information to 274637 with the start of the message saying LPDTIP.