A man and a woman traveling in a stolen van were arrested after a ruckus at a local emergency room.
A Sumter County sheriff’s detective in an unmarked vehicle late Thursday afternoon spotted the white Chevy van with Texas license plates. A check of the license plate revealed that the van and license plate had been reported stolen.
The van pulled into the Ocala Health ER at Trailwinds Village on County Road 466A in Wildwood where 41-year-old Jamie Lyn Busby of Okahumpka got out and tried to get away from 47-year-old Gregory Lynn Pennington of Wildwood. He began throwing Busby’s items out of the van. She later told law enforcement that Pennington had been physically violent toward her. While Pennington was outside of the van and apparently distracted, Busby slipped back into the vehicle. The keys had been left in the ignition.
Busby drove the van down County Road 466A and was pulled over when she reached a Circle K in Fruitland Park. The detective from Sumter County had radioed the Fruitland Park Police Department to advise officers the stolen van was heading into their jurisdiction.
Fruitland Park officers took Busby into custody on a charge of driving while license suspended. The charge was enhanced to a felony as Busby, who was arrested in 2021 in Lady Lake with a pill bottle tucked in her underwear, has three previous convictions for driving while license suspended. She was booked at the Lake County Jail on $2,000.
Pennington was taken into custody in Sumter County. He was booked on multiple charges, including a probation violation. He was being held without bond at the Sumter County Detention Center.
