A Leesburg woman was arrested after she was caught driving without a license in a vehicle with an expired registration and a phony decal on the license plate.
Marie Sharriet Barnes, 37, of 2539 Sennett Drive Apt. 102, was driving a black Chevrolet on Bay Street in Eustis at around 7:30 p.m. March 22 when a Eustis Police officer ran her license plate through the FCIC/NCIC database and saw the registration expired Feb. 25. The officer also noticed the decal attached to the plate showed an expiration date of January 2022, according to the police report.
The officer conducted a traffic stop in the area of South Bay Street and Atwater Avenue and spoke with Barnes, who said her license was suspended for unpaid traffic tickets. She said the vehicle was registered to her child’s father, but they both drive it regularly. She said they are in an active relationship, the report said.
Asked about the improper decal, Barnes became very quiet and said she didn’t know. The officer asked her to call the registered owner, who told the officer he didn’t know the sticker was not correct and somebody must have put it on the car when he was asleep, according to the report.
The registration on the tag showed it belonged on a car currently registered to a woman in Sanford. The officer tried to contact the woman but was unable to get a hold of her, the report said.
A records check showed that Barnes has several active suspensions and was labeled a habitual offender in May 2019. She has nine prior convictions for driving with a suspended license, as well as two convictions for driving with a registration expired for more than six months, according to the report.
Barnes was arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license (habitual offender) and driving a vehicle with a license plate not assigned. She was taken to the Lake County Jail, where she was released several hours later on $2,500 bond. Barnes will appear in Lake County Court on April 19.
