A former Villages restaurant worker who was arrested in 2019 in a pair of burglaries at the Lady Lake Driving Range found himself behind bars Tuesday on a multitude of charges after allegedly fleeing in a stolen vehicle from a Marion County sheriff’s sergeant.
The sheriff’s sergeant spotted a blue Hyundai traveling east on S.E. Sunset Harbor Road on Tuesday morning and discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen in Orange County. He attempted to stop the car but the driver, later identified as 22-year-old Preston Gant IV, of Umatilla, fled from the deputy after he activated his emergency lights and siren, a sheriff’s office report states.
Another sergeant joined in the pursuit and a short time later they were able to box in Gant’s car. He exited the vehicle while it was still moving and indicated he was surrendering. But he then jumped back into his vehicle and intentionally rammed one of the sheriff’s patrol vehicles and disabled it, the report says.
The pursuit started again and ended in the 9500 block of S.E. Sunset Harbor Road after Gant’s damaged vehicle became inoperable. He exited the vehicle and ran from the sheriff’s sergeant who was pursuing him but then stopped and pulled out a hammer with his right hand. The sergeant gave him several commands to get on the ground, which were ignored, the report says.
Gant continually told the sheriff’s sergeant to “kill him” and refused to comply with his demands. He was ultimately tased and taken into custody, according to the report.
A computer check showed that Gant’s license wasn’t valid. It also showed that he had 12 suspensions on his record ranging from Aug. 29, 2018 to Sept. 16, 2019 for failure to pay traffic fines.
As Gant was being escorted to a patrol vehicle by several deputies, he started screaming, “(Expletive deleted) all of y’all. You shoulda shot me,” the report says. Deputies then searched his vehicle and found a glass pipe underneath his clothing in the back seat with burnt content that field-tested positive for marijuana. They also found several notebooks that appeared to be used as a diary.
Gant, who lives at 39948 Yentsch Ln. in Umatilla, was transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer with lights and siren active, grand theft of a motor vehicle, possession and/or use of drug equipment and driving with a suspended or revoked license. He was being held on $17,000 bond and is due in court Feb. 23 at 9 a.m., jail records show.
Gant was arrested in January 2019 after he was twice caught on video breaking into the shack at the Lady Lake Driving Range, located on Rolling Acres Road, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. He allegedly used rocks to break windows at the facility and took a television set. He also was seen on video eating candy from the facility, the report says.
In March 2020, Gant was arrested again for violating his probation in connection with the driving range burglaries. He was taken into custody after he was spotted walking in the travel lanes of U.S. Hwy. 27/441 near Lady Lake Town Hall and provided a police officer with a false name, a report states.
Also in 2019, Gant was arrested after throwing a yard ornament through a woman’s window at the Lake North Apartments on County Road 466 in Lady Lake. And he was working in 2018 at the Burger King on Bichara Boulevard in The Villages when he reportedly punched a customer after an argument at the eatery’s drive-through window.
