A Silver Springs man was arrested for resisting after arguing with an officer over a traffic stop and pulling away when being handcuffed.
An officer stopped a black Nissan at the intersection of Old Dixie Hwy. and West Lady Lake Boulevard around 4:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The driver, 31-year-old Rashad Marquise Lott, had made an improper change from the center to the right lane, causing the vehicle that was already in the right lane to brake suddenly.
Lott immediately became confrontational when speaking to the officer. He stated that the officer pulled him over because he was black and heard music in the vehicle. He denied cutting anyone off and said he used his turn signal when changing lanes, the report said.
He repeatedly stated he would challenge the stop in court and claimed the officer had no reason to pull him over. The officer explained that even if he had used his turn signals to change lanes, he had done so without regard for the vehicle he was cutting in front of, the report said.
During this conversation, the officer asked Lott several times for his driver’s license. He refused each time, even after being told he was arrested for failure to identify himself. He instead requested a supervisor, which the officer radioed in for, the report said.
The officer then opened the driver’s side door of the vehicle to remove Lott from the vehicle and arrest him. He resisted by pulling his left hand away, breaking the officer’s hold twice, the report said.
Law enforcement eventually found Lott’s driver’s license and ran it through dispatch. This revealed that his license had been suspended on March 3, 2025, for an unpaid traffic citation. When told this, Lott stated it did not matter because the officer did not know about it before the traffic stop. He continued to argue that his rights had been violated by being stopped without cause, the report said.
While en route to jail, Lott admitted to purposely not providing his driver’s license. He also stated that even if he lost the arrest case, the police had no right to search his vehicle unless it was going to be towed, the report said.
Lott was charged with resisting without violence, obstruction of justice and knowingly driving while license suspended. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $2,500 bond.