LADY LAKE — The Lady Lake Police Department has charged a man with attempted murder and aggravated battery following a stabbing that occurred Friday evening near Veterans Memorial Park in The Villages.

On March 7, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office notified the Lady Lake Department of a stabbing victim facing life threatening injuries being treated at UF Health Spanish Plaines in Sumter County. He was later airlifted to UF Health Shands in Gainesville where he underwent surgery and survived. Investigators determined the incident occurred in a parking lot near Veterans Memorial Park on Paige Place in Lady Lake (The Villages) at around 8 p.m.

According to investigators, the altercation involved the victim, a 39-year-old male, and the suspect, William Tyler Warren, 42, and reportedly stemmed from a dispute involving a female acquaintance.  Continue reading →

LADY LAKE — The Lady Lake Police Department has made its first arrest using the department’s new license plate reader (LPR) camera system, demonstrating how technology can assist officers in identifying stolen vehicles and apprehending suspects.

On March 10 at around 3:30 p.m., Lady Lake officers were alerted by the department’s Safety LPR system that a stolen vehicle was traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 27/441 near Avenida Central. The car had been entered into the National Crime Information Center database as stolen through the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Officers conducted a search of the area and found the car in the parking lot of Publix on Bichara Boulevard. Sgt. Heather Couch located and arrested the vehicle’s driver, later identified as suspect Stephanie Lynn Barbee, 37.
During the investigation, officers determined Barbee had been in possession of the car for two days. A search of the vehicle uncovered a bag containing a crystal-like substance that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine and weighed 1.29 grams. Officers also recovered pills later identified as benzodiazepine.  Continue reading →

LADY LAKE – The Lady Lake Police Department, in partnership with American Legion Post #347, are hosting the second annual “Shred it and Forget it,” a free drive-through shredding event to help protect seniors from scams.

The event will take place on Saturday, April 25 from 9 – 11:30 a.m. (or until capacity is met) at Post 347, located at 699 W. Lady Lake Blvd. Residents are invited to drive through with a limit of two banker boxes of documents to be shredded, free of charge. The event is open to all area residents and will be held rain or shine. Last year, approximately 1,000 people attended, successfully shredding 20,000 pounds of documents.

The event is another opportunity offered by the Town in its ongoing efforts to help residents avoid scams and fraud.

“This shredding event gives residents a simple, secure way to dispose of sensitive documents and protect their personal information – especially during tax season,” said Lady Lake Police Chief Steve Hunt.  “Properly shredding old financial records, medical paperwork and other confidential materials helps prevent identity theft and keeps private information out of the wrong hands.”  Continue reading →

The Orange Blossom Lions Club of Lady Lake recently donated $5,500 to fully fund the Lady Lake Library’s 2026 Children’s Summer Reading Program. Their generous support will help inspire thousands of children in the community to keep reading and learning all summer long.

Pictured: (Left) Barbara Crewel, president of the Lions Club of Orange Blossom Gardens/Lady Lake and (right) Aly Herman, Lady Lake Library director.

Lady Lake to host second cybersecurity training focused on phone safety

The Town of Lady Lake will host the second installment in its cybersecurity training series on March 26 at 2 p.m. at the Lady Lake Library. The session will again be led by Howard Davis, the Town’s IT cybersecurity expert.
Based on feedback from the previous training, this presentation will focus specifically on phone cybersecurity, providing residents with practical tools to protect their personal information while using smartphones and mobile devices. Davis will cover common phone-based scams, suspicious text messages, malicious apps, and ways cybercriminals attempt to gain access to sensitive data through mobile platforms.

Attendees will also learn best practices for securing their devices, identifying red flags, and reducing the risk of identity theft or fraud.

The training is free and open to the public and is designed for users of all experience levels. Registration is not required.
For more information, contact Howard Davis at ladylake.cybersec@gmail.com.

The Town of Lady Lake has been recognized as a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the 21st consecutive year, continuing a long-standing commitment to urban forestry, environmental stewardship and community beautification.

To earn the designation, communities must meet four core standards established by the Arbor Day Foundation: maintaining a tree board or department, adopting a tree care ordinance, investing at least $2 per capita in a community forestry program, and observing Arbor Day annually.

The Town of Lady Lake celebrates Arbor Day each April with community tree plantings. Over the last several years, the Town has planted trees in public spaces such as Lake County Fire Station 52 and Lady Lake Town Hall. This year, Parks and Recreation joined Public Works in a large-scale landscaping project along County Road 466, planting palm trees, crepe myrtles and zoysia grass, as well as updating the irrigation system.

On April 23 at 9:30 a.m., the Town invites the public to a tree planting ceremony outside the grounds of The Villages Elementary of Lady Lake.  Continue reading →