SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office arrested multiple suspects in connection with a golf cart theft ring that they said has been operating in and around The Villages.
Deputies said the suspects stole golf carts from Sumter, Lake and Marion counties and sold them for cash ranging from $600 to $1,200. An undercover detective in the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office on May 11 contacted James Logan, who deputies said offered to sell a recently stolen golf cart for $600.
The undercover detective met with Logan in a Lowe’s parking lot and said he ran when he was confronted by deputies. A taser was used to stop Logan, who was taken into custody. Detectives learned that the golf cart had been stolen a few hours before the meeting at Lowe’s.
Logan, Heather Senn and Johnny Hurst III were arrested in connection with the theft of the golf cart. Logan is facing charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle, dealing in stolen property, possession of burglary tools and resisting arrest without violence. Senn and Hurst are charged with dealing in stolen property for their involvement in the sale of the stolen golf cart.
Logan told deputies that he stole the golf cart, and deputies linked him to two other stolen golf carts, authorities said.
During questioning, deputies said Logan told them that he steals about 30 golf carts a month. Logan is also charged with possession of a short-barreled shotgun after he sold a sawed-off shotgun to an undercover detective from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, deputies said. Logan was already out on bond on theft charges out of Pinellas County. He is being held without bond in Sumter County.
Investigators identified multiple locations in Sumter, Marion and Lake counties where golf carts were taken after they were stolen.
Before the May 11 arrests, Jessie Lee Curtis was arrested in connection with the theft of three stolen golf carts March 24, in Sumter County.
Detectives recovered four more stolen golf carts after arresting Curtis. The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said it plans to continue to crack down on golf cart thefts. ❂