A homeless man in Leesburg was arrested after allegedly taking his grandmother’s truck without permission for a “joy ride or something.”
A deputy met with the grandmother of 22-year-old Travis Leon Shiver at her camper in Leesburg around 1:15 p.m. Monday, March 16, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
She explained that Shiver had been living in her camper for the past seven days. However, he had taken her white 2022 Toyota Tacoma without permission that morning and returned it several hours later. She was asleep at the time and only heard about it when her neighbor texted her photos from her Ring camera that captured a person leaving and coming back in the truck at the given times, the report said.
The grandmother normally kept the truck keys in a purse in her bedroom, but an extra key hung on a hook in the kitchen. She believed Shiver used the extra key to take the vehicle to a park area, as she had just washed the truck the day before, and it was now muddy, the report said.
She went on to give background information about Shiver, including how he had recently been released from jail in Fort Myers on probation for a controlled substance charge. Two days before the theft, she had picked him up from Walmart after dropping him at a festival. He seemed to be under the influence of drugs, so she confronted him about using methamphetamine. She ultimately decided to give him another chance, the report said.
The grandmother added that one of her renters had a key to the camper to help with property management when she was away. She confirmed the camper door was likely locked when the truck was locked. Additionally, Shiver did not have a valid driver’s license, as it had been suspended while he was on probation, the report said.
The deputy then spoke with Shiver inside the camper, the report said. He initially asked if his grandmother was having him trespassed before admitting he took the truck without permission to go “to the store right there.” When the deputy remarked about the time frame, he stated, “I just got a little edgy last night and thought I might, uh, like joy ride or something.”
Shiver was subsequently arrested on charge of grand theft auto and booked at the Lake County Jail without bond.
He was also arrested in Feb. 2024 for trespassing at Circle K.