A young resident of The Villages has been charged with repeatedly damaging a gate which provides access for golf carts.
John David Newell, 26, who resides at 1701 Hilton Head Blvd. on the Historic Side of The Villages, has been charged with damaging the gate at 1157 Paradise Drive.
The unique golf cart-only gate has a card reader that was put in after the legendary 2013 battle in which the Developer tried to wall off The Villages from outside access.
Newell was caught on video on Oct. 6 “punching the camera and access card reader breaking it free from its mount and causing it to fall to the ground,” according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department.
Newell returned to the gate on Oct. 14 and 27 and forced the gate open, “causing damage to the hydraulic arm on both occasions.” The damage was estimated at $400.
The Massachusetts native was arrested Monday on a charge of criminal mischief. He was booked a the Lake County Jail on $1,000 bond.
Newell has a long history of arrests in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
In 2022, Newell was arrested after arguing with his grandmother over the care of his daughter. Newell reportedly grabbed his grandmother by her arms, leaving behind bruises.
Newell was arrested in 2020 after he got into an altercation with his grandmother because he was not allowed to use the golf cart. Newell had been arrested after allegedly threatening the mother of his baby with a butcher knife in 2019 during an altercation on the Historic Side of The Villages. In 2016, Newell was arrested after damaging his uncle’s golf cart, also on the Historic Side of The Villages.
