A Lady Lake man was arrested after running from a traffic stop when he was caught in a stolen vehicle.
A deputy on patrol spotted 45-year-old Roger Dale Sands driving a black 2025 Hyundai Sonata southbound on U.S. Hwy. 441 in Leesburg at 12:15 a.m. Thursday, July 9, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. A check of the registration determined the New York tag was not assigned to a vehicle.
After sharing this information with dispatch, the deputy waited for more units to arrive. The vehicle came to a stop at the intersection of Industrial Street and Snowberger Avenue, where he initiated a traffic stop. Sands then fled out of the driver’s seat and to the back of a residence on Industrial Street, the report said.
The deputy held the passengers at gunpoint while Fruitland Park and Leesburg officers created a perimeter around the area. Sands eventually returned to law enforcement and was subsequently detained, the report said.
Further investigation determined the vehicle had been entered as stolen by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office on June 28. A search of the vehicle yielded its assigned Florida tag in the trunk, the report said.
Additionally, a check of Sands’s driving history revealed his driver’s license had been revoked in 2004, the report said.
Sands was arrested on charges of grand theft auto and resist officer without violence. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $3,500 bond.
He was also arrested in Dec. 2019 after running from police and jumping on a rooftop.