A 20-year-old Leesburg man already in trouble for trespassing was also charged with resisting after he refused to get into a patrol car during his arrest last week.
At around 9:30 p.m. Friday, a Leesburg police officer responded to a residence after a report of a suspicious person. The owner of the property said the suspect – later identified as Derek Tyrone Watkins, of 1530 Sterns Drive – was previously trespassed from the location and was back causing a disturbance, according to the police report.
The officer observed Watkins walking from the victim’s driveway towards Sterns Drive and detained him. The officer confirmed with dispatch that Watkins had been trespassed from the property and told him he was under arrest, the report said.
Watkins refused to place his foot inside the officer’s patrol vehicle, despite being told to do so multiple times. He was then told he’d be charged with resisting if he didn’t cooperate, and he replied, “all right then.” However, he still didn’t get into the patrol car and had to be physically pulled into it by two officers, according to the report.
Watkins was taken to the Leesburg police station, where he was booked on charges of trespass after warning and resisting without violence. He was taken to the Lake County Jail, where he was released Monday on $2,000 bond. Watkins is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Dec. 6.
