A Lake County man is facing a potential life felony after deputies say a long-running argument over uncleaned dog waste boiled over into a violent confrontation at a Leesburg home over the weekend. Trey Decloedt is accused of forcing his way into a neighbor's house, hurling dog feces at him, and lifting a scooter over his head before striking the man in the head, according to an arrest affidavit.
Deputies say Decloedt believed his neighbor was not cleaning up after his dogs, a grievance that had apparently simmered long enough that the neighbor had already sent Decloedt a recorded message stating he was no longer welcome inside the home, as reported by WKMG ClickOrlando. Despite that warning, deputies say Decloedt opened the neighbor's door without permission, setting off the physical altercation that followed.
According to the arrest affidavit, Decloedt threw dog feces at the victim, then grabbed a scooter and lifted it over his head before striking the victim in the head. The victim tried to remove Decloedt from his property during the encounter. Decloedt, for his part, claimed to deputies that he and the neighbor had a mutual understanding allowing them to enter each other's homes without knocking, and he claimed the neighbor shoved him first — a conflicting account that has not been independently resolved.
Charges Carry Steep Potential Penalties
Decloedt now faces charges of burglary with battery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and simple battery, per the arrest report. Under Florida Statute § 810.02, burglary accompanied by an assault or battery is classified as a first-degree felony punishable by up to life imprisonment, and prosecutors do not need to prove severe bodily injury for the charge to apply — any unlawful entry coupled with non-consensual contact can qualify.
The aggravated assault charge stems from Decloedt allegedly raising the scooter over his head in a threatening manner. Florida Statute § 784.021 classifies aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, absent intent to kill, as a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison, five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine — and state law allows ordinary household objects to count as deadly weapons depending on how they're used. The simple battery charge, meanwhile, falls under Florida Statute § 784.03, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine that requires only unwanted physical contact, not injury.
This is not Decloedt's first documented run-in with law enforcement in Lake County. In November 2021, he was arrested in nearby Mount Dora and charged with second-degree felony dealing in stolen property, driving with a suspended license, failure to register a vehicle, and attaching an unassigned license plate, with bond set at $4,000, according to reporting at the time by Leesburg-News.com. Decloedt reportedly told officers back then that he had used a stolen license plate to commute to work.
A Pattern of Pet Waste Disputes Turning Violent
Leesburg has recorded violent crime well above the national average in recent years — 2,403 violent crimes between 2019 and 2024, for an average rate of 158.6 per 100,000 residents, about 49.3% higher than the national figure, per Crime Data Explorer records. That contrasts with statewide trends: Florida's overall violent crime rate has been falling, dropping to 145.7 per 100,000 in 2024 from 157.6 in 2022, according to Florida Department of Health data.
Neighborhood conflicts over dog waste have flared into serious violence elsewhere in Lake County and beyond. In April, a dog-related dispute near a Leesburg homeless camp turned deadly when a man trying to shoot a dog that was attacking him instead fatally shot the animal's owner, triggering a countywide manhunt and a local school lockdown. Hoodline also reported that a dog waste feud in Brooklyn that same month left a 75-year-old woman hospitalized after a physical assault caught on surveillance video, and that the widow of a Las Vegas pastor sued a homeowners association in January over a pet-related neighbor dispute that ended in her husband's fatal shooting in December 2023.
Florida municipal codes generally require dog owners to clean up pet waste immediately, treating uncollected waste as both a public health hazard and a nuisance, with civil fines running up to $500 per violation, according to LegalFix. It remains unclear when exactly the neighbor's recorded trespass warning was sent to Decloedt relative to the alleged attack, and whether either man required medical treatment. How prosecutors will weigh Decloedt's prior Lake County arrest record during bond and charging proceedings has also not been detailed.
