The 37-year-old naked Leesburg man who was arrested while walking down U.S. Hwy. 27/441 on New Year’s Eve has a hefty criminal record and still is behind bars in the Lake County Jail.
David Mikell Steele, who lives at 1106 Flamingo Drive, is being held on $11,070 bond after getting into a violent confrontation with a Fruitland Park Police K-9 officer who attempted to stop him just after noon near Munn’s Air Conditioning and Heating, located at 2135 U.S. Hwy. 441. Steele refused to stop, said, “This is my world,” and then “clinched his right fist and brought it upwards” as if he was going to punch the officer, a Fruitland Park Police report states.
The officer also reported that Steele had white foam around his lips and he “wasn’t sure if he was under the influence of narcotics or possibly overly intoxicated,” the report says.
The officer continued to instruct Steele to “step off the roadway, get into the grass and lay flat on the ground,” but he refused to do so. The officer was then forced to use his taser on Steele twice. But after the second short burst, Steele “ripped” the taser probes out, started yelling and screaming and begin clinching his fists and smacking his chest, the report says.
The officer then started stepping back toward his patrol vehicle with Steele following him. He attempted to throw a punch with his right hand but the officer blocked it. And when Steele turned his back, the officer tackled him to the ground and with the assistance of another officer was able to take him into custody, the report says.
After being placed in a patrol vehicle, Steele told the officers he was being sought in Lake County for failing to pay child support. He was then checked and medically cleared by EMS and transported to the jail, where he was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and a writ of bodily attachment for back child support in the amount $1,070. He was being held on $11,070 bond and is due to appear in court on the new charges on Jan. 28. No court date has been set for the back child support charge.
Steele, who is no stranger to the Lake County legal system, has been held in the jail six times since November 2010. The variety of charges filed against him over the past eight have included driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving and probation violations.
