A Leesburg woman caught driving without a valid license for the eighth time told the deputy who stopped her she was behind the wheel because her 18-year-old son was feeling nauseous and couldn’t safely operate the vehicle.
At around 9:25 p.m. Thursday, a Lake County sheriff’s deputy on patrol on 14th Street near Tally Road ran a vehicle license plate and saw the registered owner’s license was revoked. The driver matched the description of the owner, so the deputy conducted a traffic stop, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The driver was identified through her Florida ID card as 41-year-old Keleigh Lynn Root Yearby, of 1414 South St. A computer search of her traffic history shows she has been convicted seven times for operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, the report said.
Root Yearby was charged as a habitual offender with driving without a valid license. The vehicle was turned over to her son, who has a valid license, and Root Yearby was taken to the Lake County Jail. She was released early Friday on $2,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Oct. 31.
