A Leesburg woman who has never had a driver’s license was arrested after a high-speed chase in a minivan without a license plate.
Shortly before midnight Monday, a Lake County sheriff’s deputy was facing north on U.S. Highway 27/441 at a red light at the intersection with Griffin Road and saw a Dodge minivan traveling westbound on Griffin without a tag on it. The deputy turned left onto Griffin Road and tried to catch up with the vehicle, which sped up to about 60 mph in the posted 35-mph zone, according to the sheriff’s office report.
Another deputy in a marked patrol vehicle took up the chase as the minivan turned right onto Simmons Avenue and the south on Tuskegee Street before turning right onto another street and then south on Stinson Street. The vehicle turned behind some apartments at the end of the street, the report said.
The deputy spoke with the driver – 34-year-old Tryphosa Johnson, of 912 Stinson St. – who said she fled because she didn’t have tags on the vehicle and was afraid. Computer searches revealed the vehicle was not registered and that Johnson has never had a driver’s license, according to the report.
The deputy contacted the last registered owner of the vehicle, who said she gifted the vehicle to Johnson, the report said.
Johnson was charged with fleeing an officer with disregard for the safety of others, driving without a license and not having a motor vehicle registration. She was taken to the Lake County Jail, where she was released Tuesday on $3,000 bond. Johnson will appear in Lake County Court on May 24.
