Brooksville Man Arrested After Crashing Into Retaining Wall, Gas Line Near Detention Center

BROOKSVILLE —On 08-09-15 just before 11 a.m., the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office along with Hernando County Fire Rescue responded to a single-vehicle crash on Spring Hill Drive, near the entrance to the Hernando County Detention Center.

As a result of the crash, which involved a mid-size Sports Utility Vehicle, a 2-inch natural gas line was reported damaged and leaking. Fire crews worked to quickly mitigate the incident.

Shortly before noon, TECO gas technicians arrived and were able to close off nearby valves to stop the leak completely. About that same time deputies noticed a suspicious device in the vehicle and called for the Citrus County Bomb Squad to evaluate, which they cleared without incident shortly after 3 p.m.

The driver of the vehicle, Michael Lee Roberts, 7/28/1984, was transported from the scene to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Roberts was later questioned at the Sheriff’s Office and was arrested on an active Hernando County felony warrant pertaining to Discharging a Firearm from a Vehicle. This was related to a Brooksville Police Department case.

In addition to the warrant, Roberts was also later charged with three counts of Threatening to Harm a Public Servant and two counts of Felony Criminal Mischief in regards to Sunday’s crash.

Roberts is the same individual who was arrested on July 27 on charges of Criminal Mischief and Resisting an Officer with Violence after he drove an SUV erratically on the jail lawn and then crashed into a flagpole.

Roberts remains at the Hernando County Detention Center on no bond status awaiting first appearance on Monday.