[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 06/29/20]
CLERMONT, Florida — A 56-year-old Clermont man was charged with disorderly intoxication Sunday after jumping off a bridge on County Road 561 near Thompson Place.
An anonymous caller told Lake County Sheriff’s Office dispatch a man, later identified as John Walter Taylor, jumped off the bridge while drunk and refused help from bystanders, according to an arrest affidavit. Taylor then swam to shore, wandered through the brush while talking to inanimate objects, wandered into traffic and then attempted to get in his car and drive away, but witnesses stopped him, according to an arrest affidavit.
Clermont Fire Department (CFD) arrived and checked Taylor’s vitals. They asked him to walk in a straight line and he staggered into the road, almost falling into the oncoming lane of traffic, the affidavit states. A CFD firefighter caught Taylor and Taylor pulled away from him, balled up his fist and “took an aggressive posture.” An LCSO deputy intervened and took Taylor into custody. He was transported to the Lake County Jail, where he is being held on $500 bond.
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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]
