A frequent Publix Liquor customer was arrested after returning on a booze run after leading law enforcement on a wild chase the previous day.
James Stevens, 50, of Oxford Oaks, who has a long history of arrests and has been classified as a habitual traffic offender, was at the Publix Liquor store at Southern Trace Plaza at about 8:30 p.m. Monday when a deputy noticed the headlights were not illuminated on his white Ford F-150 pickup, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
The pickup turned north onto Southern Trace and the deputy activated his emergency lights and sirens and followed the pickup in the area of Evelyn Drive and Woodridge Drive in the Village of Polo Ridge. The deputy noted the pickup was driving in a “reckless manner, traveling through a highly populated neighborhood with no lights on at night.” Rather than stopping, the pickup traveled at a high rate of speed in an “obvious effort” to avoid arrest. The deputy ended the pursuit in adherence with agency policy.
The deputy returned to Publix and spoke with a manager who provided an image of the truck’s license plate.
The Publix Liquor store clerk said he knew Stevens by name and said he was a frequent customer
At about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Stevens returned to the Publix Liquor store. The sheriff’s office was notified and Stevens was taken into custody on charges of driving while license suspended and fleeing to elude law enforcement. He was booked without bond at the Sumter County Detention Center.
Stevens, who was arrested earlier this month, has had a long string of arrests. In 2024, he was jailed after he went out to breakfast at Perkins restaurant in The Villages.
Stevens served 10 days in jail in 2023 after a 20-year-old woman complained about his unwanted advances at Red Lobster at Buffalo Ridge Plaza.
He had been free on bond in that incident when he was found slumped over the wheel of a white F-150 pickup at Taco Bell in The Villages. Stevens, who was sentenced to 20 days in jail in 2022 after he was caught driving after a drunk driving conviction, appeared to be intoxicated.
In 2021, Stevens was driving a golf cart after drinking beer at Lake Sumter Landing. Stevens, who was living in the Village of Santo Domingo at the time, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence.