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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ocala man jailed after returning to motel where he wasn’t welcome

Paul Howard

An Ocala man accused of kicking in doors at an Ocala motel was jailed Thursday after claiming he was there to visit his girlfriend.

A Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded to the Queen’s Gardens Resort, located at 3340 S Pine Ave. in Ocala and when he arrived, the clerk said 40-year-old Paul Howard wasn’t welcome at the motel. A computer search showed Howard had been issued a trespass order from the motel on March 3, a sheriff’s office report states.

The deputy told Howard of the trespass warning and he said he was aware of it, but he was there to see his girlfriend. The deputy checked the room Howard allegedly was attempting to get into and found that it was vacant and under construction. The clerk also confirmed that Howard didn’t have a girlfriend staying at the motel, the report says.

Howard, who lives at 7269 SE 36th Ave. in Ocala, was taken into custody and booked into the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with trespassing in a structure or conveyance. He was being held on $500 bond and is due in court April 15 at 1 p.m. to answer to the charge.