A homeless sex offender is accused of lighting the tent he and his fiancé were living in on fire during an argument.
Police responded around 3:35 p.m. Wednesday to a potential domestic battery in the wooded area northeast of Cook Drive and Breeze Lane, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department.
During a routine patrol, an officer encountered the fiancé of 52-year-old Lance Evans. She said the couple got into a verbal dispute about cleaning their camp area in the woods. She said Evans got very upset and tried to light the tent they were staying in on fire, the report said.
When the victim went to put out the fire, Evans punched the left side of her jaw with a closed fist. Her mouth bled after the blow, leaving a small cut on the inside of her lip. Evans then left the scene on a bicycle traveling south towards Leesburg, according to the report.
Officers with the Leesburg Police Department found Evans at the Circle K store at 2211 Citrus Blvd. Fruitland Park officers arrived and detained him. At that point, Evans admitted to striking his fiancé in the jaw and lighting the tent on fire, the report said.
Evans, who was convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old girl in 1990, was charged with domestic battery. He was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $2,500.
