A Leesburg man was arrested for driving without a license in an unregistered vehicle after being stopped in the Dollar General parking lot.
An officer observed the driver of a white Chevy Equinox, later identified as 37-year-old James Kendell Dorsey, traveling south on U.S. Hwy. 27 at 3:20 p.m. Sunday, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department.
The officer checked the license plate which revealed it expired in 2021 and was previously assigned to a trailer. As the officer tried to get behind the vehicle by moving across traffic lanes, Dorsey turned into the Dollar General parking lot, located at 312 S U.S. Hwy. 27. The officer circled back around to see Dorsey leaving the store with baby products and trying to get back in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, the report said.
The officer then conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle in the parking lot due to the license plate. Dorsey stated he did not have a driver’s license but never drove the vehicle. A woman got out of the vehicle to identify herself and said it belonged to her, the report said.
A check of the VIN revealed the vehicle was registered to another woman with no current registration or tag assigned. The officer also checked Dorsey’s information and learned of a writ of bodily attachment warrant from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. His driving history showed his license had been revoked for five years as a habitual traffic violator as of April 2023 with multiple previous guilty convictions for driving while license suspended, the report said.
Dorsey was subsequently arrested on charges of driving while license revoked (habitual) and unregistered motor vehicle. He was transported to Lake County Jail with bond set at $3,000.
He was also arrested in Oct. 2020 for giving a fake name after a crash and in Aug. 2022 for eluding police after stealing his girlfriend’s car.