[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 08/09/20]
LEESBURG, Florida — Some people never learned to keep their hands to themselves.
A man Lake Legal News reported in April, who was accused of touching a teenage boy’s buttocks outside a local grocery store has been arrested again.
Steven Rodney Sikkema, 36, is accused of battering two people at lunchtime Tuesday at two popular restaurants in Leesburg, according to an arrest affidavit.
Around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Leesburg Police responded to Olive Garden, 10026 U.S. Highway 441, Leesburg on a report of a battery. The female victim told police a man, later identified as Sikkema, came into the restaurant and asked for free food. The victim told Sikkema she could not give him anything for free except a cup of ice water and he became angry and shoved the woman in the chest with both of his hands, according to the affidavit.
Sikkema left and walked next door to Red Lobster, where he approached an elderly man and hit him above his right eye and pushed him into the building, the elderly victim told police. Sikkema appeared to be angry and was yelling, the victim said; Sikkema left the scene after battering the elderly man and police found him in the parking lot of a business across the street, the affidavit states.
When police questioned Sikkema, he said he went into Olive Garden and asked for water and when the woman would not help him, he pushed her. He also admitted to hitting the elderly man, according to the affidavit. The arresting officer asked Sikkema why he was so angry at people he did not know, and he reportedly responded, “I’m homeless and I get very upset when people don’t want to help me.”
Sikkema was charged with battery second offense and battery on a person over 65. He is being held at the Lake County Jail on $4,000 bond.
According to an arrest affidavit earlier this year, a teenage boy was standing outside Publix, 717 North 14th Street, Leesburg when Sikkema approached him, touched his buttocks, and called him a derogatory name and then left the area on foot. The incident was caught on video surveillance, according to the affidavit.
A few days later, Sikkema returned to the store and a manager called Leesburg Police to have him trespassed and police located Sikkema in a nearby plaza and trespassed him. Later the same day, the victim and his mother called Leesburg Police back to the store to file a report on the inappropriate touching and Sikkema was arrested that night. He was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation, but later pleaded no contest to a battery charge, according to Lake County Clerk of Court records. He was sentenced to six months probation.
Records at the Lake County Jail shows that Sikkema has been booked into jail in Tavares at least 13 times in the past 4 years.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
