A Wildwood man has been sentenced to 22 months in prison for stealing a truck from a local business this past October.
A Lake County deputy spotted the truck being driven by 35-year-old Barry Earl Wilbanks driving northbound on U.S. Hwy. 441 early in the morning of Oct. 28. The truck had been reported stolen Oct. 27. When the truck accelerated to get away from the deputy, he radioed for assistance.
Deputies deployed stop sticks near the intersection of U.S. Hwy. 441 and County Road 44 in Leesburg. The stolen truck ran over the stop sticks, puncturing all the truck’s tires. Wilbanks, continued to drive the truck even though the tires came off the wheels.
When the truck pulled into a section of Edgewood Road it stopped and Wilbanks bailed out of the truck and began to flee on foot. A K-9 team arrive and the K-9 started tracking Wilbanks from the vehicle until the K-9 caught him approximately .2 miles from the truck.
When questioned by the deputy, Wilbanks said he was only driving the truck and did not know where it came from, according to the arrest report. He then changed his story and said he was only riding in the bed of the truck.
A records check revealed that Wilbanks did not have a valid driver’s license, has three driving while license suspended charges and was on Florida Inmate Release status for grand theft of a motor vehicle. He had been arrested in 2018 with a stolen vehicle key in his pocket.
Wilbanks was given credit for 135 days time served in the Lake County Jail .
