[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 02/23/20]
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UMATILLA, Florida — A man who is accused of throwing a hatchet at a mobile home he had been staying at is in the Lake County Jail on $10,000 bond.
According to an arrest affidavit, Umatilla Police responded to the home on Wafford Street just after 11 a.m. Feb. 16 in reference to a civil complaint. A resident of the home told police she had been letting an acquaintance, Timothy Jae Dodgen, 28, stay with her for about three weeks.
The previous evening Dodgen was going to move out and returned around 1 a.m. Sunday to retrieve his things. The woman heard something hit the side of her mobile home and looked outside. She saw Dodgen holding a hammer and “cussing her out,” according to the affidavit. Dodgen then grabbed a tote that contained some of his tools and left.
“…I clearly observed a hatchet that was stuck in the outside of the mobile home and was sticking partly out,” the arresting officer noted in the affidavit.
The officer made contact with Dodgen and he admitted throwing the hatchet. He was charged with throwing a deadly projectile into a dwelling and taken to the Lake County Jail.
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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]
