A suspect in a violent standoff earlier this year in The Villages will not face a criminal trial.
A judge in Marion County Court has declared that 55-year-old James Savage is not competent to stand trial. He is being turned over for commitment through the Department of Children and Families.
Savage was arrested March 16 at the conclusion of a 24-hour standoff at 7970 SE 174th Belhaven Loop in the Village of Chatham, which is in Marion County.
He fled there after allegedly kidnapping a woman from a home in the Village of Monarch Grove, which is in Sumter County. He allegedly shoved the woman into a Mercedes, setting in motion a manhunt that ended with the standoff that trashed the home of Lorraine Heroux, a widow who had befriended Savage. He has a long criminal history, including a 2020 conviction for exploitation of the elderly, involving a woman with dementia.
