A one-legged man known by the alias “Ponce de Leon” was jailed after a disturbance at the Marriott TownePlace Suites at Spanish Springs in The Villages.
When officers arrived at 9:40 a.m. Saturday at the hotel, they found 62-year-old Mario Arteaga behind the counter at the front desk, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The hotel manager said that guests had complained that Arteaga was “yelling and shoving papers in their face as they were having breakfast in the lobby.” The hotel manager added that Arteaga had been using profanities.
Arteaga, who had been arrested in a 2019 road rage incident, refused to leave the hotel.
The arrest report noted Arteaga is missing one leg and is known by the alias “Ponce de Leon,” the famed Spanish explorer and first governor of Puerto Rico.
Arteaga was arrested on charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct. The native of Cuba was booked at the Lake County Jail on $1,500 bond.
