Content about County Sheriff

On Thursday, May 9, Lake County sheriff’s narcotics detectives obtained information that a man wanted on a Lake County warrant for aggravated assault was hiding out in Dona Vista and was involved in cooking meth. The wanted subject, Rodney Worthey, was apparently hiding in a residence on New York Avenue in Dona Vista.

Narcotics detectives and members from the sheriff’s warrants unit conducted surveillance on the home, located at 37321 New York Avenue, and were able to observe Worthey at the residence.

Lamar Lee Maddox, 39, of Umatilla is in jail in Pinellas County. Maddox was arrested in the St. Petersburg area by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. That arrest came on the morning of Monday, May 6, 2013. Maddox is charged with fatally shooting Brandon Simmons at 17025 SE 249th Terrace, Umatilla, on Saturday, May 4, 2013.

Marion County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a shooting that occurred at 17025 SE 249 Terrance in Umatilla, FL. A verbal altercation started between Brandon Wayne Simmons, age 25, and Lamar Lee Maddox, when Maddox pulled out an unknown caliber handgun and shot Simmons several times.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the murder of an unidentified female whose body was discovered in a wooded area near S.R. 44 and Interstate 75 in Wildwood. Sheriff’s Detectives have released a composite of the murder victim prepared at the University of South Florida where the victim’s remains are being examined.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Apprehension Unit arrested Ashleah Hyder, 25, and Kyle Robert Reese, 51. The unit took action after receiving a request from the Leesburg Police Department to locate the suspects. Hyder and Reese are accused of committing an armed home invasion.

Marion County Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Detectives arrested 46-year-old Mac Vernel Sessler, charging him with two felonies. Deputies contacted Major Crimes around midnight Tuesday, April 16, 2013, in reference to ongoing sex crimes. The investigation revealed Sessler sexually battered a nine-year-old child, left the scene, and intimidated a potential witness.

Kenneth Calvin Cox III, 38, is in the Marion County Jail after getting arrested for trying to race away from Marion County Sheriff's Office patrol units. Around 9 p.m., Sunday, April 14, along Highway 326, a deputy attempted to make a traffic stop, but Cox, in a red SUV, continued driving recklessly through multiple neighborhoods.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office, in conjunction with the Florida Sheriff's Task Force, has concluded a five week operation aimed at protecting youth in Florida. The operation focused on preventing underage youth from purchasing and using alcohol, tobacco and various forms of synthetic drugs, especially during the spring break season.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Wildwood truck driver in connection with a series of burglaries that have been occurring in the area of the truck stop on S.R. 44 and Interstate 75. The series of burglaries began on or around January 24, 2013, where the suspect entered parked tractor‐trailers targeting a variety of goods and food products.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office is a member of the U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force. Sheriff's Office Detective Donald Buie, through the newly-formed Fugitive Apprehension and the Tactical Investigations Units, coordinated an effort to arrest a serial bank robbery suspect. Investigators say Kevin Lee Cotterman, 42, of Apopka, robbed a bank in Ocala on March 15, 2013. Cotterman is suspected in at least four other bank robberies throughout Florida.

A Marion County man is facing charges in Sumter County in connection with exposing himself to a group of minors traveling on a school bus.

Thomas Scott Hoffman,age 24 of Summerfield was arrested by Sumter Sheriff’s Detective Athena Ross. Detective Ross was investigating the report that a man had exposed himself and masturbated to a group of Marion County students who were traveling to an out of county event.