A Leesburg man with a dozen prior arrests since 2018 is back in the Lake County Jail after being accused of stealing a golf cart.
Jeffrey Donald Sweeney, 26, was charged with grand theft auto and had the bond revoked from his arrest in February for theft and dealing in stolen property. Between those two arrests, he was jailed on drug charges in July. In September 2001, Sweeney called 911 on his girlfriend but ended up being the one charged with domestic battery.
In the latest incident, the victim reported her golf cart missing from her residence on Aug. 8. She told a Lake County sheriff’s deputy the last time she saw it was around 8 p.m. on Aug. 6. The victim estimated the golf cart to be worth about $6,000, according to the sheriff’s office report.
When the golf cart was entered into the stolen records database, an alert showed that the Leesburg Police Department had come in contact with the stolen golf cart at 4:38 a.m. Aug. 7 at a residence on Fairfax Avenue. Since the cart had not been reported stolen, it was left at the residence, the report said.
The resident at the Fairfax Avenue home had contacted law enforcement after seeing Sweeney trying to conceal the golf cart behind furniture in the garage. Residents of the home signed sworn affidavit saying Sweeney, who is personally known to them, had driven the cart there in an attempt to conceal it. They said they chased Sweeney from the home because they wanted nothing to do with it, according to the report.
Sweeney is being held on $2,000 bond and will appear in Lake County Court on Sept. 12.
