A landscaper in an uninsured pickup truck was arrested at Lake Sumter Landing.
Joseph Byron McCormic, 54, of Wildwood, was at the wheel of the brown Chevrolet Silverado pickup at 9:45 p.m. Thursday westbound on Old Mill Run when he made a left turn onto Old Camp Road, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy ran the truck’s license plate and discovered it had been assigned to a trailer and not a pickup truck. A seize tag order had been issued for the license plate.
During a traffic stop, McCormic claimed “one of his landscaping employees” must have made a mistake by attaching the license plate to the truck. A check also revealed the pickup truck had no liability insurance coverage. There were also seven active suspensions of McCormic’s driver’s license including for failure to pay a court-ordered financial obligation, two financial responsibility suspensions, a driving under the influence revocation and a failure to submit to a breath test suspension. He also has previous convictions for driving while license suspended.
An inventory of the truck was performed prior to impoundment. The inventory turned up a glass bowl style pipe containing a burnt green leafy substance. The substance tested positive for THC.
He was arrested on a felony charge of driving while license suspended and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug equipment. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $11,000 bond.