A homeless woman was arrested after allegedly burglarizing three homes and stealing a car at The Plantation in Leesburg.
A married couple returning from vacation arrived at their home in The Plantation around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. The wife, who heard banging, looked out her bedroom window to see 34-year-old Jessica Marie Gioia banging on her snowbird neighbors’ door.
When asked what she was doing, Gioia claimed she lost the key and was checking on the house. But as the wife got closer, Gioia gathered her backpack and a bag to run barefoot toward the back of the property. The wife chased her to Betton Hill, where she found Gioia hidden behind a bush, the report said.
The wife called the police and told Gioia to stay there until they arrived. She replied that she needed a place to live, to which the wife stated the police would help. However, when she turned to look for a street sign at the operator’s request, Gioia ran out of sight behind another house, the report said.
At that point, the wife waited for the police to arrive and directed them to where she last saw Gioia. She also shared a video she had taken that showed Gioia carrying a backpack with a cat inside. She dropped a couple of her belongings when she ran from the neighbor’s house, as well, the report said.
Examination of the home indicated that Gioia tried to break in using burglary tools. The deputies observed parts of a door handle, broken wood, tools, pry marks on the door, what looked to be shoe prints, a screwdriver in the door handle and another screwdriver in the wedge of the door. The homeowners were not inside at the time, the report said.
Deputies subsequently began canvassing the area to find Gioia. They stopped at her last known location on Betton Hill and deployed a K-9 in their search, although they found nothing at the time. Not long after they finished, dispatch received a call about Gioia making her way to Barrow Hill, the report said.
She had gone into a house through the garage, taken the owner’s vehicle and left. The owner advised that the home was occupied during the theft, and his neighbor called to tell him the vehicle was gone. He came outside to see what was going on and saw law enforcement, the report said.
The neighbor who witnessed the theft advised that her dog alerted in a way that made her look outside. She saw Gioia moving quickly between her house and the car owner’s home. She stopped half distance, turned toward the house and went into the carport, the report said.
Gioia ultimately took the car and went to a nearby home with a shed on Pine Hill, where deputies found her. She was apprehended and bitten by a K-9, after which she was taken to UF Health Leesburg Hospital for her injuries. The owner of that home later advised that she always kept the shed locked, but the screen was broken, the report said.
The New York native was arrested on charges of resisting an officer without violence, burglary of an occupied dwelling, two counts of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, grand theft auto, possession of burglary tools and petit theft. She was booked at the Lake County Jail without bond.
She was also arrested in June 2024 for using Facebook to sell a stolen leaf blower back to the owner and in Nov. 2023 after breaking into a home to wash clothes and shower.