Police investigated an incident in which a beloved school traffic officer was nearly hit by a car.
Lady Lake Community Service Aide Michele Herbster-Sloane was working her detail at 8:20 a.m. Oct. 15 on Rolling Acres Road at Villages Elementary at Lady Lake when she was nearly hit by a blue Chevy Malibu. The previous day the driver of the car honked at her and flipped her off after he was directed to make a right turn when exiting from the school. The following day, the car was back and the driver made a left turn in defiance of the direction he was given by Herbster-Sloane, according to an incident report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The vehicle nearly hit her. She noted that she was familiar with the vehicle and it is usually driven by a woman. Those two days, a man was behind the wheel.
An officer was able to track the vehicle to the home of a 38-year-old Lady Lake man. He said it was the first time he had taken the children to school and was unfamiliar with the procedure. He admitted he had flipped her off, but claimed he never attempted to scare or intimidate her. He was not charged with a crime.
Herbster-Sloane was honored by the school’s PTO in 2015 for her outstanding work.
