A convicted felon was captured after a manhunt that included a helicopter and bloodhounds Saturday afternoon in Sumter County.
Brenton Tyler Johnson, 26, of Inverness, was being held at the Sumter County Detention Center on $38,000 bond following his arrest on multiple charges.
A Sumter County sheriff’s deputy at 6:20 a.m. responded to a residence located on NW 38th Street in Lake Panasoffkee regarding a trespasser. Upon the deputy’s arrival, the trespasser was already gone.
The sheriff’s office at 10:35 a.m. received another 911 call from the homeowner stating that Johnson was inside their residence and that he may have armed himself. Additional deputies responded to the scene and learned that Johnson may have entered the residence by removing a window screen and crawling through the window. Prior to the deputies’ arrival, Johnson made threatening statements regarding violence toward law enforcement if they attempted to arrest him. He was able to escape the house unnoticed.
Johnson was spotted at 1:35 p.m. behind another home in the area as he fled into the woods. The sheriff’s office utilized bloodhounds, patrol K‐9s and the sheriff’s helicopter to eventually track down Johnson. He was spotted on the edge of a pasture as he fled from deputies. After a foot pursuit, he was captured when he fled into a marsh.
Johnson is a convicted felon and the home he burglarized had a .357-caliber Magnum revolver missing. The firearm was not recovered upon his capture.
