These columns list arrests and not convictions, unless otherwise stated. Anyone listed here who is later found not guilty or has had the charges against them dropped is welcome to inform this newspaper. The information will be confirmed and printed.
After helping a man get back on his feet, he was repaid by having his tires slashed.
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OKEECHOBEE — After helping a man get back on his feet, an Okeechobee man found his tires slashed.
On March 19, Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Deputy Ramiro Doval was dispatched to the Okee-Tantie Campground and Marina in reference to a criminal mischief complaint. When he arrived, the complainant told him he unloaded his boat around 11 p.m. to go fishing. When he returned to the dock at about 2:30 a.m., he found all four tires on his truck had been slashed.
When asked who he thought might have done it, he explained he had been helping another man, William Edward Lewis, by letting him stay at his house, feeding him and trying to help him get back on his feet. He had even moved a mobile home for Lewis earlier in the evening, but the two had argued when Lewis requested he move the mobile home somewhere else, and the complainant refused.
A witness later came forward stating he heard Lewis claim he slashed the tires. According to the witness, Lewis told him he was doing great because he cut somebody’s tires. He said he was homeless and the man took him in and put his camper at his house. He said he worked for the man for a week but was never paid and then the man hauled off his camper. This is why he went back to slash the tires.
Lewis was arrested on April 18 and charged with felony criminal mischief. According to the arrest report, Deputy Michael Cauley found Lewis riding his bike near the 800 block of State Road 70 West. When Lewis saw Cauley, he began peddling faster and throwing things out of his pockets onto the ground. Cauley finally deployed his taser to get Lewis to stop. A search of his person revealed four packets of methamphetamine and some white pills, later identified as Alprazalam.
Lewis reportedly told deputies he ran because he thought it was someone who wanted to beat him up. He did not realize it was a deputy because he was high. In addition, he allegedly said he purchased the drugs with his stimulus check.
Additional charges of tampering with evidence, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and resisting arrest were added.
His bond was set at $8,200.
