Staff report

HIGH SPRINGS, Fla. – Lisa Marie Downes, 41, was arrested yesterday after a trooper told her she couldn’t sleep on the shoulder of I-75; she then allegedly flagged down a Road Ranger vehicle and got in without permission.

At about 2:28 p.m. yesterday, a Florida Highway Patrol Trooper responded to a call about a person sleeping on the northbound shoulder of I-75 at mile marker 404, near High Springs. The trooper spoke with Downes and wrote that he’d had a previous encounter with her. He told Downes she needed to exit the interstate using the on-ramp at mile marker 404, but as she was exiting, she allegedly flagged down a Road Ranger service truck, put her possessions in the bed of the truck, then got in on the passenger side without permission from the Road Ranger.

The Road Ranger gave her a ride to a gas station at the exit, where the trooper again spoke to Downes because the Road Ranger said she had entered his service truck without permission. Downes was arrested at the gas station and charged with failing to obey a police officer.

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The trooper reported that Downes has received multiple written warnings for walking on I-75 and received a warning from the same trooper on October 29 at mile marker 378. She was issued a second warning for walking on the interstate on November 6.

Downes has 20 felony convictions (none violent) and 16 misdemeanor convictions (one violent). She has served three state prison sentences for cases out of Pinellas County. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $500 and ordered her not to return to the northbound shoulder of I-75 at mile marker 404.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.