OCALA, FL (352today.com) – UPDATE 10/25: According to jail records, 39-year-old Michael Prouty is being held at the Marion County Jail without a bond.
His charges have also been updated. He is being charged with one count of battery on a law enforcement officer, one count of depriving an officer means of protection or communication, resisting an officer with violence, resisting an officer without violence, attempted carjacking, fleeing and eluding police with their lights and sirens active, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, and six counts of leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.
ORIGINAL STORY 10/24:
A man was arrested after authorities say he invaded a woman’s home in The Villages and took her car, leading police on a chase.
What happened
According to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), Michael Prouty forced his way into the woman’s home on Ballesteros Drive in The Villages around 7:24 a.m. Tuesday morning. The sheriff’s office says he stole her purse, cell phone, and vehicle from her garage. SCSO says he took off from the home in the woman’s Cadillac.
SCSO was able to track the woman’s stolen vehicle to Ocala. From there, officers from the Ocala Police Department (OPD) located the vehicle around 11:00 a.m. SCSO says Prouty led OPD officers on a chase and eventually crashed at the intersection of North Pine Avenue and State Road 40 in Ocala. After the crash, police say Prouty got out of the wrecked car, took off running and tried to carjack another person.
The crash on Pine Avenue in Ocala left injured. Emergency crews took them to the hospital with what OPD described as injuries that were not life-threatening.
The charges
Police charged Prouty, 39, with fleeing and eluding, attempted carjacking, crash involving injuries, and resisting arrest by OPD. In Sumter County, Prouty also faces charges of home invasion, battery on a person over 65, and grand theft of a vehicle.
Suspect’s history
The sheriff’s office says Prouty has a long criminal history. They say Prouty is registered as a “career offender” and that he got out of prison in February after serving five years for robbery charges. They say his rap sheet includes 13 felony convictions and a criminal history dating back to 2000.