A Villager has entered a plea in a case in which she has been accused of hosing down snooping neighbors looking for deed compliance violations.
Kathleen Lepsik, 73, who lives in the Alaura Villas in the Village of Hawkins, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Sumter County Court to a charge of battery. She remains free on $1,000 bond.
She was arrested July 10 after allegedly dousing her neighbors with a water hose. They were attempting to snap photos of her property, purportedly gathering evidence in a deed compliance case.
A Wildwood Police Department database search revealed that this was not the first battle in an ongoing, three-year feud between the neighbors. In fact, a nearly identical incident occurred last year involving the exact same neighbors engaging in a mutual water hose shootout, though waivers of prosecution were signed and no arrests were made at that time.
Lepsik lives in Community Development District 13, which does not allow anonymous complaints. In 2025, residents of CDD 13 met with supervisors and demanded that anonymous complaints no longer be accepted.
CDD 13 includes the villages of Bradford, Cason Hammock, Citrus Grove, Chitty Chatty, Hawkins, Richmond, St. Catherine and St. Johns, as well as parts of DeLuna and Hammock at Fenney. There are 8,062 homes in CDD 13, which covers 2,231.8 acres.