A late-night traffic stop on U.S. Highway 441 in Leesburg turned into a short-lived foot chase when deputies say a Lady Lake man ditched a stolen Hyundai and tried to run for it.
The incident unfolded just after midnight on Thursday, July 9, near Industrial Street and Snowberger Avenue. Deputies say the driver bailed out and sprinted toward the rear of a nearby home before giving up to officers who had already locked down the area.
According to Leesburg-News.com, a deputy on patrol first spotted a black 2025 Hyundai Sonata heading south around 12:15 a.m. A check of its New York license plate came back suspicious, since it did not match any registered vehicle. The deputy waited for backup, then initiated a stop.
When the car pulled over at Industrial Street and Snowberger Avenue, deputies say the driver bolted. With the passengers held at gunpoint, Fruitland Park and Leesburg officers moved in, set up a perimeter, and later detained the man after he returned to law enforcement, Leesburg-News.com reports.
Past run-ins with police
Sands is no stranger to law-enforcement encounters. In 2019, he was arrested after fleeing officers and climbing onto a rooftop during a confrontation in Leesburg, according to Villages-News, which reported he faced vehicle-theft and weapons-related charges at that time.
Charges and what officials say
Sands, identified as a 45-year-old from Lady Lake, was arrested on charges of grand theft auto and resisting an officer without violence, and was booked at the Lake County Jail before posting $3,500 bond, Leesburg-News.com reports.
Deputies also said they found the vehicle's assigned Florida tag in the trunk, that the Sonata had been entered as stolen by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office on June 28, and that Sands's driver's license had been revoked in 2004, according to the arrest report.
