A Villager has been sentenced in a golf cart road rage incident that occurred when he was on his way home from Brownwood Paddock Square.
Sheldon Scott Engstrom, 59, who lives in the Village of Hammock at Fenney, pleaded no contest on Tuesday in Sumter County Court to charges of battery and resisting arrest. He has been placed on probation for one year and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service.
Egstrom was traveling in his golf cart at about 7:30 p.m. June 19 on the golf cart path near the Okahumpka Recreation Center when he apparently got impatient with the line of golf carts in front of him, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. Engstrom managed to pass the other golf carts, but then stopped at a stop sign and attempted to wave some of the golf carts past him. A woman in a golf cart indicated she did not want to go around him and the Washington native “started yelling and screaming at her,” the report said.
Engstrom got out of his golf cart and began walking “aggressively” toward a man’s golf cart. The man said Engstrom began “chest bumping” him and the man punched Engstrom in self defense. He told Engstrom to leave him and alone and asked “what the hell was wrong with him,” the report said.
Engstrom began yelling at another woman and threatened to hit her. The man told Engstrom to “just leave,” and Engstrom responded by “aggressively bumping him in the chest,” prompting the man to again punch Engstrom. The report said Engstrom started to call 911 and threatened the other man with arrest. Engstrom fled the scene in his golf cart.
A police officer went to Engstrom’s home at 3813 Zenkto St. in reference to the 911 call, but had already been provided with information about the altercation that had taken place on the golf cart path, including a description of Engstrom. The officer arrived at the home and asked Engstrom to step outside, but he refused and slammed the door. The officer attempted to open the door, but Engstrom was apparently holding it shut. Engstrom eventually allowed the officer to enter the home, but refused to put his hands behind his back. He resisted efforts to be handcuffed.
The Villages Public Safety Department was called to the scene to evaluate dried blood on Engstrom’s mouth. Engstrom told paramedics that the man in the other golf cart did not like the fact he had tried to pass him.
