A second Rogue Nation member has escaped prosecution in an arrest earlier this year at Villages Elementary of Lady Lake.
James Frederick Lewis, 66, who lives on the Historic Side of The Villages, will not be prosecuted in connection with his May 13 arrest on a charge of trespassing on school grounds. The school principal asked Lewis to leave school property “multiple times” but he “refused” to leave, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. Lewis had been “disrupting the school pick-up line,” the report said.
The prosecutor’s office agreed to drop the charge as part of a pre-trial intervention contract which called upon Lewis to complete 25 hours of community service. He also has been ordered to stay away from the school on Rolling Acres Road.
He is the second Rogue Nation to be spared prosecution for incidents at the school.
Shawn Berry, 55, of Belleview, was arrested May 17 after showing up at the school on Rolling Acres Road wearing a reflective safety vest and with his cellphone on a tripod. He was recording the dismissal of the students, mimicking Lewis’ actions four days earlier. Both men were reportedly there to video their interactions with law enforcement and post their videos on the Rogue Nation website.
Berry was charged with trespassing within a school safety zone.
The state attorney’s office decided not to proceed with the case against Berry. The decision was based on case law “which concluded that a provision of the statute” on which the charge was based “is unconstitutionally vague.”
The Rogue Nation disruptions caused consternation among members of the Lady Lake Commission who were told that town employees were being harassed on their way to and from work. At one point the commission considered the installation of a $52,000 fence around an employee parking lot. However, the commission later agreed instead to put up No Trespassing signs.
