A Villager’s adult son was tasered after attempting to flee from law enforcement at Lowe’s home improvement in Lady Lake.
Michael Maffia, 32, was spotted with a man who appeared to be his father at about 3 p.m. Thursday moving furniture into a Lowe’s rental truck, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. Maffia was being sought by law enforcement after allegedly causing about $2,000 in damage to a man’s vehicle days earlier at an apartment complex. A manager confirmed that Maffia had moved into the apartment complex and lived there alone. The man whose car was vandalized was not acquainted with Maffia and did not know his name, though he picked him out of a photo lineup.
When Maffia realized he had been spotted by a deputy at Lowe’s, the New York native ran into the gardening section. The deputy loudly announced his presence and Maffia did not stop. He was tasered while inside Lowe’s.
Maffia has a history of strange behavior.
He was arrested Nov. 30, 2017 after his father escaped their then-home in the Village of Summerhill and called law enforcement after being attacked by his son. The father had come home to discover his son had punched a hole in nearly every wall of the home. Charges in that case were later dropped.
Maffia was kicked out of the house by his father, who put him up at the Holiday Inn Express in The Villages. In January 2018, a housekeeper was preparing to clean Room 307 when she noticed holes had been punched in the walls of the room. There was also damage to the shower, television, air conditioning control panel and nightstand. The father agreed to pay for the estimated $1,100 damage to the room with his credit card already on file.
In 2012, Maffia was arrested on a charge of battery. He was ordered to seek a mental health evaluation as part of a pre-trial intervention agreement. It was determined he did not need treatment and the battery charge was dropped.
Maffia’s father moved in 2018 to the Village of Piedmont.
Maffia was booked Thursday on charges of criminal mischief and resisting arrest at the Sumter County Detention Center. He was released after posting $3,000 bond.
