A Village of Fenney man has escaped with probation after a second violent episode since purchasing his home four years ago.
Martin Lewis Levine, 60, was placed on two years’ probation last week after pleading no contest to a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Sumter County Court.
He had been arrested Sept. 10, 2019 at his home at 5635 Whitetail Ave. in the Hyacinth Villas after backing his SUV “at a high rate of speed” at a fellow customer with whom he had been involved in a confrontation at the Dollar General on Warm Springs Avenue in Coleman. The customer said Levine had been standing behind him in line at the store and made a comment about the “cashier being slow and not waiting on him fast enough,” the arrest report said. The other man responded with a comment, prompting Levine to ask him if he wanted “to take it outside,” according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
The man went out to the parking lot and spotted Levine’s SUV coming at him at a high rate of speed in an attempt to “run him down,” the report said. Levine also made threats to physically harm the other man, who feared the 250-pound Levin could beat him up.
A female clerk backed up the man’s account of what happened. She also said the Bronx, N.Y. native had cursed at her and kicked a “wet floor” sign in the store. The license plate number of Levine’s SUV had been captured and deputies went to his home.
Levine had been arrested Nov. 14, 2018 after a verbal altercation with another individual whose dog was running loose in a dog park in the Village of Fenney. During the argument, Levine raised his shirt, displaying a black handgun, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. He reportedly used profanity when he threatened to shoot the dog owner in the head. It was witnessed by several people. Levin’e lawyer successfully negotiated the charge down to a misdemeanor. Levine was sentenced to probation for one year and ordered to perform 30 hours of community service.
In 2018, Levine was ticketed for speeding in a construction zone, also in Sumter County. In 2017, he was cited for littering.
