A Villager who refused to leave a neighbor’s property claimed he was “on God’s land.”
Andrew Brian Cleary, 56, who lives at 4138 Xanthus Court in the Callahan Villas in the Village of Osceola Hills, was at a home on nearby Victory Drive before noon Thursday when he “displayed irrational behavior” and “began ranting about God,” according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. He said that God was speaking to him.
The New Jersey native had been in the other resident’s yard, but stepped back into the street. While deputies were at the scene, Cleary took a few steps back onto the resident’s property.
“He repeatedly asserted that he was on God’s land, and he could go wherever he wants, whenever he wants,” a deputy wrote in the arrest report.
A deputy told Cleary he needed to get off the resident’s property.
“No,” he said.
Cleary, who stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds, firmly stood in a praying position.
Cleary tensed up when deputies attempted to take hold of his arms. He resisted being handcuffed and would not cooperate when deputies tried to put him into the back of a patrol car.
Cleary, who purchased his home in the Callahan Villas this past November, was arrested on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest. He was booked without bond at the Sumter County Detention Center.