Local

Police: Abandoned golf cart in Lady Lake pond leads to burglar's arrest

LADY LAKE, Fla. — A 46-year-old Lake County man accused of burglarizing a home was arrested Friday after officers found his getaway golf cart partially submerged in a pond, the Lady Lake Police Department said.

Officers found the golf cart shortly before 7:15 a.m. in a pond off of Silver Oak Avenue near the Silver Lake Recreation Area, Chief Chris McKinstry said.

While searching for the golf cart’s owner, officers learned that a nearby home had been broken into, McKinstry said.

“The house backs up to the pond area and golf cart tracks were observed entering the front yard and sliding down the steep hill into the pond,” McKinstry said. “The newly constructed home was unoccupied and the owners were out of town.”

Once the golf cart was towed from the pond, detectives identified the vehicle’s owner as Michael Hawk and they then paid him a visit.

Officers went to Hawk’s Debra Drive home, where they found him, his wet clothing, a stolen television and a set of keys belonging to the homeowners of the burglarized home, McKinstry said.

Hawk was booked into the Lake County Jail on burglary and grand theft charges. He bail was set at $7,000.