76.2 F
The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Woman known for battle with father over his home in The Villages lands behind bars

Susan Elizabeth Newman

A woman known throughout The Villages for a dispute with her 82-year-old father over his home in The Villages spent part of the weekend behind bars.

Susan Elizabeth Newman, 42, of Lady Lake, was arrested Saturday night at a home in Wildwood and charged with battery. Newman was released from the Sumter County Detention Center on Monday on $10,000 bond.

The incident started when a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy made contact with Newman at a Wildwood residence. She told the deputy she had been in a verbal altercation on the phone but apparently didn’t want to cooperate or provide any information about an alleged battery taking place earlier. She continued to say nothing had happened and she only wanted to retrieve her belongings, a Sumter County Sheriff’s Office report states.

A man at the residence initially told another deputy that nothing had happened but then said Newman took his phone while they were standing in the driveway. He claimed that as he attempted to get it back, Newman began to slap him in the face and arms before fleeing the area on foot, the report says, adding that the man said he wasn’t injured.

Deputies also spoke with a witness who was raking a nearby yard and saw Newman take the phone from the man. The witness also reported seeing her strike the man in his upper body and then flee on foot when he tried to get his phone back, the report says.

Newman was taken into custody and transported to the Sumter County Detention Center, where she was charged with battery. She was released early Monday afternoon on $1,000 bond.

Newman is no stranger to the Sumter County legal systems or Villagers, for that matter. This past September, her 82-year-old father, Charles W. Newman, was barred from his home in the Village of Country Club Hills after being arrested for an alleged altercation with his daughter. While out on bond, he was ordered to have no contact with his daughter, who continued to live in the home with her 8-year-old son.

Charles Newman had expressed concerns about his grandson living with his daughter and had called law enforcement to check on him multiple times. Those calls came after a concerned neighbor claimed Susan Newman had been attempting to recover the child from a “drug dealer” – something she denied while telling a Lady Lake police officer that she and the man were in a “dating” relationship and he had been watching the boy for her.

A document filed with the Lake County Courts on Oct. 9 detailed Charles Newman’s fears about the welfare of his grandson, who was a student at The Villages Charter School. Near the end of October, Susan Newman’s boyfriend, 36-year-old Derek John Hoffman, who also lived in The Villages, was arrested on a third degree felony for allegedly punching Newman. She claimed he had left her and her young son stranded for more than two hours during a shopping trip. Hoffman allegedly punched her with “a closed fist, in the center of her face, striking her upper nose and lip,” a report says.

In January, Susan Newman sent a handwritten note to a judge asking for leniency regarding her boyfriend’s battery charge – much different than when she had pursued prosecution against her father for the same charge.

Neglect of golf course maintenance now costing us millions of dollars

In a Letter to the Editor, a Village of St. Charles resident argues that neglect of golf course maintenance is now costing residents millions of dollars.

Karen says her intent has been misinterpreted

A Village of Belle Aire resident who stirred quite a discussion with a previous Letter to the Editor, follows up to say that her intent was misinterpreted.

Our amenities are being used by families with kids

In a Letter to the Editor, a Village of Citrus Grove resident says she is not happy about families with kids using amenities paid for by residents.

Finally allocating funds to the golf courses!

A Village of Hadley resident said he is happy that more money is being allocated to the golf courses. Read his Letter to the Editor.

Trump is unfit for any office

A Village of Osceola Hills resident, in a Letter to the Editor, details why he thinks former President Trump is unfit to hold any office.