A golf cart stolen from a Villages hotel had been rented by a visitor from Wisconsin.
A man with a lengthy criminal history, 32-year-old Jonathan Ryan Cuppels of Fruitland Park, remained behind bars at the Lake County Jail on charges including grand theft of a motor vehicle, following his arrest this past Sunday.
Cuppels is charged with stealing the golf cart on Valentine’s Day from the Comfort Suites hotel on Avenida Central in The Villages. At the time of his arrest he had been free on bond following a Dec. 17 burglary at a home in Lady Lake.
A 69-year-old man from Poynette, Wis. had rented the white 2017 Yamaha golf cart on Feb. 13 from The Villages Golf Cars, according to an incident report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The man was staying at the Comfort Suites and parked the golf cart in the hotel’s parking lot. He left a Wisconsin state flag and a “John Deere Country” sign in the golf cart. At 6 p.m., the day after he rented the golf cart, he discovered it was missing from the hotel’s parking lot.
Law enforcement later received a tip that Cuppels had been spotted driving a white, newer-looking golf cart in the area of Carlton Village in Lady Lake. He abandoned the cart in a wooded area and was apprehended this past Sunday.
