A serial golf cart thief avoided prison time after several burglaries in The Villages.

Jerry Michael Lay Jr., 52, who most recently housed a rental in the San Leandro Villas, has a long history of snapping up golf carts in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.

He was recently sentenced to “time in prison” in Sumter County after stealing golf carts. Barnes & Noble in Lake Sumter Landing And Corporate Rental at Lake Sumter Landing.

Lay was transferred to the Lake County Jail on Friday. He is accused of stealing a golf cart in this area last year. Bowling alley in Spanish Springs.

Lay had long been on the radar of local law enforcement. The golf cart theft arrests stemmed in part from surveillance footage from strategically located cameras operated by The Villages. When law enforcement spotted the golf cart thief during surveillance, they recognized him as Lay.

He was arrested in connection with a golf cart stolen from a hotel in Spanish Springs in 2019. He spent 210 days in prison in this case.

Lay was released from state prison in 2018 following a one-and-a-half-year sentence for motor vehicle theft. His first arrest was in Broward County in 1988 for motor vehicle theft.