A panhandler with a knife was arrested after fleeing a Publix grocery store in The Villages.
Michael Anthony Newgent, 67, who is homeless, was caught Wednesday afternoon trying to enter Publix at La Plaza Grande, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. He had been banned from the store and was arrested last year when he was holding a cardboard sign, begging outside the store.
When Newgent became aware that law enforcement had been called, he mounted a bicycle and tried to flee the scene. An officer spotted Newgent at Avenida Central and U.S. Hwy. 27/441. He had gotten off the bicycle and was standing on the median. He was holding a sign and soliciting for money. The officer informed Newgent that he was violating a town ordinance and took him into custody. The convicted felon was found to have a knife in his pants pocket.
Newgent was arrested on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a weapon by a felon and trespassing. He was booked without bond at the Lake County Jail…