Villager charged with aggression while driving a golf cart

A village resident is facing felony charges, apparently stemming from an incident of aggression while driving a golf cart.

William Gordon Rodseth, 74, of Dunedin Township, turned himself in to the Sumter County Detention Center Monday morning on charges of assault on a person over 65 years of age.

His arrest stems from an incident that occurred on May 9 on a golf cart path in The Villages.

Rodseth was driving a blue two-seater golf cart when he passed a 91-year-old village resident, according to a police report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. The 91-year-old village resident called Rodseth “an asshole.”

This seemed to infuriate Rodseth, who followed the 91-year-old to his home in The Villages, less than a mile from where they started.

Rodseth pulled into the man’s driveway and shoved the older man in the shoulder. An altercation ensued and the 91-year-old ended up on the ground. Rodseth got back in his golf cart and drove away.

Several weeks passed and the identity of the attacker was unknown.

The 91-year-old had installed surveillance cameras on the outside of his house and an image of these provided a clue to the identity of the attacker. A positive identification was made last week and Rodseth turned himself in.

The man, from Rock Island, Illinois, was taken to jail, where he was initially held without bail.