A Villager who battled her landlord earlier this year in a bitter dispute has been arrested in the theft of a laptop computer.
Carol Ward, 73, was in the headlines earlier this year for her fight with her landlord over the condition of her rented manufactured home at 1016 Aloha Way on the Historic Side of The Villages.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy was called to the property Tuesday afternoon when Ward attempted to lodge a trespassing complaint on behalf of a hospitalized neighbor.
A man who was at the neighboring property claimed he previously had been allowed access to the property. He said he had returned to reclaim his belongings, including a drone and a laptop computer. He accused Ward of stealing the items. She denied taking them.
The man said he had a GPS tracking device attached to his laptop. At that time, a witness approached the deputy and reported that Ward “threw something in the water” behind her rented manufactured home. She admitted she had taken the laptop.
The New York native was arrested on a charge of grand theft. She was booked at the Lake County Jail and released on her own recognizance.
