Several customers came to the aid of a Marion County sheriff’s deputy Monday afternoon in the parking lot of the Summerfield Wal-Mart as he wrestled with a homeless man wanted on outstanding warrants.
When the deputy arrived at the store, located at 17961 S U.S. Hwy. 27/441, he found 29-year-old Joseph James Wallace asleep in the passenger seat of a black SUV. When the deputy asked Wallace his name, he replied “Josh” and started getting out of the vehicle “in an apparent attempt to flee,” a sheriff’s office report says.
The deputy ordered Wallace to stop and put his hands behind his back, but he refused and “began trying to get away.” A struggle broke out that continued for about 10 minutes, with several citizens offering assistance, the report notes.
Wallace finally gave up and the deputy handcuffed him and placed him in his patrol car. He was transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with resisting an officer without violence and giving false identification to a law enforcement officer.
He also was charged with probation violations for driving with a suspended or revoked license (habitual offender), dealing in stolen property and giving false verification of ownership to a pawnbroker.
Wallace is being held without bond and is scheduled to appear in a Marion County courtroom Sept. 25 to answer to the charges.
