A judge has released a man suspected of stealing a golf cart from the Outback Steakhouse restaurant in The Villages.
Robert Joseph Gibson, 43, of Weirsdale, was released on his own recognizance Wednesday after spending 50 days in the Lake County Jail. The prosecutor’s office has not yet filed formal charges against the Fort Myers native, thus did not object to a motion from the public defender’s office seeking Gibson’s freedom. Judge James Baxley signed off on the motion, granting Gibson’s release.
He was arrested June 13 in connection with the theft of a 2020 Yamaha golf cart, valued at $20,000, which had been parked April 8 at Outback at Rolling Acres Plaza, according to an affidavit of probable cause from the Lady Lake Police Department. The owner left the restaurant at about 7:30 p.m. and discovered his golf cart was missing from the parking lot. He was still in possession of the key.
A review of video surveillance led a detective to suspect Gibson had stolen the golf cart. The detective was aware that Gibson had been associated with previous golf cart thefts. The golf cart was found on the property of Christopher Wyatt on Singletary Road in rural Lady Lake. Wyatt, who was arrested in 2020 on a charge of aggravated manslaughter in the death of his young son, has not been charged in the theft of the golf cart.
In 2019, Gibson was arrested after running out of Kohl’s in Lady Lake wearing a pair of stolen Nike shoes.
