A homeless man spent a night in jail last week after being caught sleeping in the bushes outside an Ocala Dollar General store the day after being warned for trespassing.
Donald Wayne Richardson, 54, who provided a relative’s address on NE Highway 329 in Anthony, was charged with trespassing after failing to leave a property upon order by owner.
The manager of the Dollar General at 12911 NE Jacksonville Road contacted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday and requested that Richardson be removed from the property. The manager said Richardson was sleeping in the bushes with beer cans scattered around him, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The deputy was told that store management tried to have Richardson trespassed two days earlier for being intoxicated, but he left before law enforcement arrived. Management called law enforcement the next day when Richardson returned to the property and was again intoxicated. A deputy found Richardson sleeping in the bushes and issued him a trespass warning and warned him not to return to the store’s important, the report said.
Another deputy responded to the store on Thursday and spoke with Richardson, who was sleeping in the bushes. He appeared to be intoxicated and had opened and unopened beer cans scattered around him. Richardson said he didn’t think anyone would see him in the bushes, according to the report.
Richardson was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was released Friday on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on Sept. 18.