A homeless sex offender from Tennessee was arrested at the Interstate 75 overpass in Wildwood.
Sumter County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday morning to a verbal dispute at the I-75 overpass at State Road 44.
They found 54-year-old John Gantley, who was identified by his Nevada driver’s license. A check revealed he had been convicted of sexual battery in 2015 in Tennessee. Additionally, he had been charged with a registration violation in 2021 in Davidson County, Tennessee. A non-extraditable warrant had been issued for his arrest after that violation.
Gantley had contact with law enforcement in July in Brevard County after he was found sleeping in a park. He checked in to the Days Inn in Wildwood in September and initially registered an address there with law enforcement. When he was arrested at the overpass, he told deputies had had been homeless for a week and had been sleeping under the overpass.
Gantley was arrested on a sex offender registration violation. He was booked without bond at the Sumter County Detention Center.
