A romantic rival was arrested after allegedly defecating on the vehicle of an executive in The Villages.
Jeremy Robert Powell, 30, who lives at 2010 Ridge Spring Drive in the Village of Sabal Chase, was arrested Monday by Wildwood police on a charge of criminal mischief.
An officer had been called at 8 a.m. that day to the Oxford Oaks home of Michael Hoopfer, the director of accounting at The Villages Commercial Property Management. The former Community Development District 13 supervisor had walked out to his driveway that morning and discovered that the passenger side windshield wiper of his vehicle was broken, there were scratches on the doors and there was fecal matter on the roof of his vehicle. Hoopfer reviewed his home video surveillance footage and saw a man scratching the vehicle, “climbing on top of it, then defecating on the roof,” according to the arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
Hoopfer identified the man as Powell, “who he recognized from work.” It appeared the damage had taken place at about 10:30 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday. When questioned by police, Hoopfer theorized that Powell might have been provoked to commit the vandalism “over a girl.”
Under closer inspection of the home security video, the officer noted the man was wearing a white T-shirt and dark pants. The man kicked the driver’s side mirror and scratched the doors before climbing onto the roof of the vehicle, dropping his pants and defecating. After he jumped back to the ground, he again scratched the driver’s side of the vehicle. The officer noted that the man captured on surveillance had a towering presence and that Powell’s driver license information indicated he stands 6 feet, 5 inches tall.
Powell was interviewed at the Wildwood Police Department and taken into custody. He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $1,000 bond.
In 2022, the former leasing agent at the Brownwood Lofts pleaded no contest in Lake County Court to charges of driving under the influence, possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was placed on probation for six months and was ordered to provide two clean urine screens at least 30 days apart. He also paid $1,347 in fines and court costs. The Wauconda, Ill. native had been at the wheel of a black Kia with Illinois license plates at about 11:30 p.m. July 4, 2021 on State Road 25 when he was captured on radar driving 57 miles per hour in a 50 mph zone, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department. During a traffic stop, a police officer suspected Powell had been drinking and observed an open 12-pack of Modelo beer in his car. There was also a cartridge containing Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC.) Powell admitted he had consumed “three beers,” the report said. He struggled through field sobriety exercises and provided breath samples that registered .105 and .099 blood alcohol content.
