A Villager’s daughter known for an epic battle with her father over custody of her son has been arrested on new drug charges.
Susan Elizabeth Newman, 44, was sleeping in a silver Toyota Corolla at about 5 p.m. Friday at the Pizza Hut restaurant in Bushnell when a K-9 unit was summoned to the scene, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The dog alerted on the vehicle, leading to the discovery of two plastic bags containing methamphetamine, a straw with the residue of methamphetamine and four Xanax pills that were not located in a prescription bottle.
Newman was arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug equipment. She was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $5,000 bond.
She has made headlines multiple times over the past several years and is known for the custody battle with her father.
Newman’s 11-year-old son continues to reside with her 84-year-old father, Charles Newman, on West Schwartz Boulevard on the Historic Side of The Villages. The boy is now attending Villages Elementary of Lady Lake, after previously attending The Villages Charter School.
Charles Newman was barred from his residence in September 2018 after Susan Newman, who has a history of drug arrests, claimed he put both of his hands under her chin and squeezed tightly for 3 to 5 seconds, then spit in her face. Charles Newman admitted he did it “out of frustration” and was arrested on a charge of battery.
In October 2018, when Susan Newman was still living in her father’s home from which he had been banned because of his earlier arrest, her boyfriend, Derek John Hoffman, was jailed on a felony charge of battery after she called 911 for help. In January, she sent a handwritten note to a judge asking for leniency and the prosecutor’s office announced that no information would be filed in Hoffman’s case due to “victim/witness issues.” Hoffman died this past January after he was hit by a car.
Prior to being allowed to return to his home after his daughter vacated it in November 2018, Charles Newman, who was ordered to take an anger management class, had expressed concerns about his grandson living with his daughter and had called law enforcement to check on him multiple times.
In March 2019, Susan Newman was arrested at a home in Wildwood and charged with battery.
In August 2019, police were again called to Charles Newman’s home. When they arrived, he asked that his daughter be administered a drug test because she was giving him “hell.”
In 2020, Charles Newman accidentally started a fire at his home when he was heating oil to cook hash browns.