An Oxford man with a long criminal history was arrested after fleeing Wawa at County Road 466 and U.S. 301.
A manager recognized 37-year-old Eric Wayne Watson when he approached the cash register at about 5 p.m. Sunday and attempted to pay for some items, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. The manager was aware that Watson had been banned from the convenience store. She ordered him to leave. He fled on foot toward the ALDI grocery store. He was apprehended in the front yard of a home on County Road 108.
He was arrested on a charge of trespassing. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on $1,000 bond.
It’s the latest in a long string of arrests.
Watson had been drinking Fireball Whisky when he was arrested in August in The Villages when he claimed to be a member of the Morse family. Watson made a similar claim in June when he was arrested at Lake Sumter Landing.
Watson was arrested earlier this year at the Walmart at Buffalo Ridge Plaza in The Villages. He had been banned from the store in 2018. Watson was arrested at the same store in 2019 after stealing vodka and fishing lures. He was also arrested in 2020 after trespassing at the store.
