LAKE CITY, Fla. -- A man has been arrested after crashing a vehicle through the gates of a Lake City elementary school.
According to the Lake City Police Department, around 1:43 a.m. Sunday, a driver reported a 1996 Olds Achieva had crashed through the front security gate of Summers Elementary School and then fled the scene.
Police located the suspect minutes later and arrested him.
Jeremy K. Pepper, 28, of the 700 block of Northwest Turner Avenue, crashed through the locked gate of the east entrance to the school at 1388 S.W. Mcfarlane Ave.
Police say the driver then destroyed several signs in the parking lot and drove through another portion of fence, heading north on Southwest Mcfarlane Avenue. At 1:46 a.m., an officer saw the vehicle parked in the Buck Stove parking lot.
Police say Pepper was disoriented and smelled of alcohol. There was substantial damage to his vehicle and both the front and rear windshields were shattered. Pepper had a small cut on his face as a result of the crash.
He was then arrested for leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage. He was also charged with Possession of Marijuana (less than 20/grams) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia after marijuana was found in the car.
Pepper was also issued a traffic citation for the crash. He was booked at the Columbia County Detention center on $1,500 bond and has since bonded out. The Columbia County school board estimates the damage to the school property at $1,200.
