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Friday, March 29, 2024

Unregistered sex offender tased during scuffle with police

Rodney Latrell Brown
Rodney Latrell Brown

A man wanted for failing to register as a sex offender in Sumter County had to be tased after punching, kicking, and trying to run from police in Leesburg.

Rodney Latrell Brown, 36, of Lake Panasoffkee, was charged with two counts of simple battery on an officer and single counts of providing a false ID to law enforcement and resisting an officer without violence.

At around 3 p.m. Saturday, Leesburg police officers responded to a report of a suspicious person at the Washington Street Apartments, 815 Washington St. The caller said a man was walking around the complex for a long time without going inside any apartment. He said the man did not look like a tenant, according to the police report.

Police immediately recognized the suspect as Brown and knew he had an active warrant out for his arrest in Sumter County for failing to register as a sex offender. He’s on the FDLE’s sex offender registry for his 2007 conviction for lewd and lascivious battery with a victim 12 to 15 years old.

An officer asked Brown if his name was Rodney Latrell Brown. He said it was not and gave his name as Bradley Latrell Brown. When asked for his date of birth, Brown stumbled over his words. Recognizing he was being evasive, officers moved in on Brown to detain him, the report said.

As an officer grabbed Brown’s wrist, Brown pulled and twisted away, and then tried to run. Officers forced him to the ground. Once on the ground, Brown twisted his body in a way that allowed him to turn towards officers and lay on his back. As officers tried to roll Brown over to put him in handcuffs, he started swinging at an officer’s face and chest area, according to the report.

At the same time, Brown was kicking the officer in the legs. Another officer drew his taser and drive stunned Brown to the ground. The sudden jolt forced Brown back onto his back and facing officers again. Brown started kicking and swinging his fist, and he made contact with the second officer’s chest and taser, the report said.

Officers backed away from Brown to avoid being kicked and struck with his fists. When they did, Brown got up and started to run away. At that point, the second officer deployed the taser in the center of Brown’s back, knocking him to the ground and allowing him to be detained, according to the report.

Brown was taken to a hospital emergency room to be medically cleared after being tased. While being pushed in a wheelchair at the hospital, Brown got up and started running down a long hall and through the exit to the parking lot. Officers caught up with Brown and detained him for good, the report said.

After being cleared at the hospital, Brown was booked at the Leesburg police station and taken to the Lake County Jail, where he’s being held on $12,000 bond. Brown is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Jan. 3.

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