A Villager’s grandson with a long litany of arrests is in trouble again after a purse-grabbing incident.
John David Newell, 28, who is now homeless but resided for many years on the Historic Side of The Villages, was booked this past week at the Sumter County Jail after he was tracked and taken into custody as a result of the violent incident in May.
The latest arrest stems from an altercation that began the night of May 13 near Firehouse Subs on U.S. 441 in Lady Lake. According to an arrest affidavit from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Newell and his girlfriend of more than a year got into a verbal argument. As she tried to walk away toward the Atlantis Carwash, Newell approached her from behind, put his arm around her neck, and forcefully began choking her.
She was able to break free, and the couple crossed the highway to a Circle K, where Newell threw her bag onto the roof of the building. The altercation continued as they walked past a nearby Denny’s, where Newell threw the woman’s purse to the ground, scattering its contents.
The dispute culminated at a Wawa gas station, where an employee called 911 after witnessing Newell violently arguing with the screaming woman. Surveillance video showed Newell swatting a drink out of the woman’s hand before aggressively getting in her face and spitting on her face and upper chest.
Newell fled the scene on foot before deputies arrived. The victim was found hiding under a desk in the Wawa manager’s office, sitting in the fetal position and rocking back and forth. Deputies later located her bag on the roof of the Circle K and the contents of her purse in the grass near Denny’s, corroborating her story.
Due to an extensive criminal history that includes five prior battery convictions in Lake County, Newell is facing a charge of felony battery.
He was being held at the Sumter County Detention Center on $80,000 bond.
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.