A Leesburg woman was arrested after threatening officers with a crowbar when they came to investigate a disturbance at a local pool.
Officers responded to the Gardenia Park Recreation Complex swimming pool, located at 201 W Berckman St., when 47-year-old Patricia Lashan Williams began screaming at people around 2:20 p.m. Sunday, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department. The caller stated she was yelling and threatening people.
Upon arrival, the officers found Williams under a covered canopy. She yelled and screamed at them as they approached. She then reached into her canvas-style wagon and pulled out a metal crowbar, holding it up in a threatening manner, the report said.
The officers commanded her to drop the crowbar, but she refused. They decided she needed to be tased to comply and drop the weapon. She was wearing a loose windbreaker, so the first attempt worked only marginally, the report said.
However, the second attempt caused Williams to lock up, fall to the ground and drop the crowbar. She resisted when the officers tried to handcuff her. The officers sat her up, to which she grabbed her legs and held them, the report said.
Three officers eventually restrained her to put her in two sets of handcuffs. As she was stood up, she grabbed one of the officers’ pant legs and refused to let go. After several minutes, she was lifted to her feet and leaned against a picnic table, the report said.
A man later advised that he was sitting by the pool when Williams came up to him, yelling and telling him that he was not going to get away with calling her racial names. He had never spoken to her before this incident. She then got in his face and poked him on the head using both hands, the report said.
Williams was ultimately arrested on charges of simple battery, resist officer without violence and aggravated assault on law enforcement officer. She was booked at the Lake County Jail with bond set at $7,000.