A woman was arrested after she was spotted texting while driving near The Villages Charter School.
Leah Katherine Richter, 36, of Fruitland Park, had been at the wheel of a beige Buick Rendezvous at 8:31 a.m. Thursday at the intersection of County Road 466 and County Road 101 when a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy noticed she was “holding her cell phone above the steering wheel, and was actively texting on it,” according to an arrest report.
The traffic light changed to green and Richter continued to text while driving through the intersection. She was pulled over in the parking lot at Bonefish Grill. The vehicle’s tag was expired and a check revealed multiple suspensions of Richter’s driver’s license. She had previously been convicted of driving while license suspended in 2001, 2004, 2009 and 2012.
Richter was arrested on a charge of driving while license suspended and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. She also was issued written warnings for the expired tag and for texting while driving. She was released after posting $2,000 bond.