The owner of Palmer Legends Country Club in The Villages is serving time behind bars after a jury found him guilty last week on charges of disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest.
Chad Strausbaugh, 40, of Ocala, was sentenced to 59 days in jail by Judge Paul Militello after the jury returned its verdict Friday in Sumter County Court. Strausbaugh was booked late Friday afternoon at the Sumter County Detention Center.
The Ohio native was “extremely intoxicated” when he was arrested on the night of March 31 at the Oxford Oaks subdivision, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
Officers had been called to a “verbal disturbance” at 3311 Dzuro Drive, part of the Phase II development of the family subdivision owned by The Villages.
Strausbaugh was so intoxicated that he was “stumbling and nearly falling multiple times,” the report said. When he was informed he was being placed under arrest, the 6-foot tall 250-pound avid golfer began to resist and fight multiple officers. During the altercation, Strausbaugh broke a cable box located near the street. He continued to resist officers as they placed him in a patrol car. He was first taken to The Villages Regional Hospital, where he refused treatment, and then taken to the jail.
In the trial last week, Strausbaugh was represented by Ocala attorney Henry George Ferro.
A charge of criminal mischief was dismissed.
