A homeless man in Lady Lake was arrested for loitering when officers found him flashing a flashlight behind Too Your Health Spa.
Officers responded to the Village Veranda at Lady Lake, located at 955 S U.S. Hwy. 27/441, regarding 35-year-old Alexander Tanel Smith at 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. Dispatchers advised that he was trying to open car doors and shining a flashlight.
Upon arrival, the officers met with the female complainant who pointed out Smith flashing a flashlight and lurking behind the nearby To Your Health Spa. She had first seen him walking toward the parking lot of the Village Veranda, but it seemed he got spooked by the emergency lights of a firetruck and EMS also on scene, the report said.
She watched as he ran in the opposite direction, crossing over fencing and around a retention pond reaching to the back of To Your Health Spa. He then ducked and hid while she flashed her vehicle’s headlights from across the pond in his direction, the report said.
The officers observed Smith from across the pond, as well, again flashing his flashlight and prowling behind the spa. They made their way in that direction and detained Smith for an investigation. He claimed to be making music behind the spa, the report said.
However, the report noted he was dressed in dark clothes with a gray winter cap and a broken headset with the wire detached. He was also carrying a backpack and had a flashlight, the report said.
Smith was ultimately arrested on charge of loitering or prowling. He was transported to Lake County Jail to be held without bond.
He was also arrested in Sept. 2023 as a burglary suspect, in Sept. 2022 for hospitalizing a woman, in March 2022 with syringes, in June 2019 for robbing a lady at church, Jan. 2019 for attacking a woman in Lady Lake, and in June 2018 for attacking his girlfriend’s mother.