A Belleview woman was arrested after attempting to flee from a deputy and making up various stories about the situation when caught.
A deputy on patrol observed the occupants of a maroon Nissan Rogue, including 49-year-old Melanie Christine Patterson, pass him headed eastbound on Griffin Road in Leesburg around 10:05 a.m. Saturday, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Upon seeing the deputy turn around, the vehicle made an immediate and dangerous right turn onto Commerce Street to break his line of sight. It then sped up and did not completely stop at a stop sign at the intersection with Industrial Street. At that point, the deputy initiated a traffic stop, the report said.
The male passenger opened his door and bailed from the vehicle. The deputy approached Patterson in the driver’s seat, who claimed the passenger had robbed her of her phone and threatened to hurt her. The deputy pursued the passenger, eventually apprehending him, the report said.
The deputy subsequently returned to Patterson. She initially stated that she was in the back seat of the vehicle but later changed her story multiple times. She also lied about who was in the vehicle, at one point claiming another man was driving who fled, the report said.
However, a review of the deputy’s dash cam determined that Patterson was the only person in the vehicle after the passenger fled. At that point, the deputy attempted to handcuff Patterson. She began to pull away and resist, so he had to restrain her against his patrol vehicle multiple times for the handcuffs to be placed on her, the report said.
Patterson ultimately advised that she was told to bail out of the vehicle and run with the passenger. They both came up with the plan to flee when they saw the patrol vehicle on Griffin Road. Her story continued to change, and she was taken to the Lake County Jail without further issue, the report said.
She was charged with flee/elude and resist officer without violence. She is currently being held without bond.
Patterson was also arrested in Aug. 2024 when a vehicle she stole from her mother was found broken down at a laundromat. An earlier arrest in Jan. 2023 happened after she made a $147 to-go order from Chili’s with a stolen credit card.