Leesburg man rebooked at Lake County Jail to face eluding charges

A Leesburg man has been rebooked at Lake County Jail to face charges for eluding a deputy that tried to stop him for reckless driving.

Houston Davis Spencer, 29, was booked on resisting and reckless driving charges at Lake County Jail in late February. He was transported out of Lake County jurisdiction to appear at a mandatory court date but has since returned to face the aforementioned charges. 

On the afternoon of Feb. 21, while deputies were responding to a well-being check on Dekle Drive, one of them observed a silver passenger car driving south on Margeret Drive appearing to be going more than the posted 25 mph, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. 

Upon the driver, later identified as Spencer, realizing it was a dead end, he applied his brakes hard. The noise this caused could be heard from Dekle Drive and was so excessive it caused the front bumper to become unattached from his vehicle. This incident was witnessed by the property manager of the community, the report said. 

The deputy exited Dekle Drive onto Akron Drive where he was flagged down by multiple subjects pointing at a silver passenger car that matched the vehicle traveling south on Akron toward U.S. Hwy. 27. It was traveling at a high rate of speed. The deputy got behind the car as it approached a stop intersection on Akron Drive and U.S. Hwy. 27, the report said. 

The car did stop at the intersection but did so far past the clearly marked stop line. It exited south onto U.S. Hwy. 27 where it entered the outside lane. The deputy initiated a traffic stop in reference to reckless driving and failure to stop for a clearly marked stop sign, the report said. 

The car proceeded into the inside lane of the highway where the deputy utilized his sirens to notify him of his attempt to stop him. The car then abruptly switched lanes and went into the outside lane where he turned into the south entrance of Best Western, located at 1321 N. 14th Street. He did not stop upon entering the parking lot and jumped the curb, disrupting a bed of rocks where the car became stuck and would no longer move forward, the report said. 

Spencer then got out of the passenger’s seat and fled on foot north toward Icy King, located at 1331 N. 14th Street. Responding officers set up a perimeter and found him within a fenced section of Icy King where he was detained, the report said. 

Upon further investigation, the Communications Center of LPD confirmed Spencer had a suspended driver’s license and an active warrant out of Lake County for grand theft. The vehicle he was driving was also determined to not be registered, as the attached tag was not assigned to the vehicle, the report said. 

Spencer was charged with resisting (obstructing without violence), flee/elude (refuse to stop), registration (fail to register motor vehicle), reckless driving and operate motor vehicle without driver’s license. He was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $20,500.