A suspect crashed a stolen Jeep after snatching it from a storage facility.
The Ocala man who owns the silver Jeep Wrangler said it was taken on Labor Day from Discount Storage on U.S. Hwy. 27/441, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. The owner, who was at the storage facility which required an entry code, was initially unaware the Jeep had been stolen.
Dispatch received a report at about 3:30 p.m. of a silver Jeep Wrangler speeding through traffic and brake checking other drivers on U.S. Hwy. 27/441 in the vicinity of County Road 466. An officer spotted the Jeep swerving through traffic at a high rate of speed. The officer initiated a traffic stop and, at first, it appeared the driver of the Jeep was going to cooperate.
However, the Jeep sped toward a field behind Leisure Living at U.S. Hwy. 27/441 at Eagles Nest Road. The Jeep struck the sign at Leisure Living and the driver bailed out and began walking away. A pedestrian signaled to the officer, indicating the location of the driver, identified as 35-year-old Justin Shock Aldrich of Lady Lake.
Aldrich tried to claim that the Jeep belonged to his girlfriend. The officer found that Aldrich has a suspended driver’s license and a criminal history including arrests at UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital and the Microtel Inn & Suites in Lady Lake…