[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 11/25/19]
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LADY LAKE, Florida — A landlord is facing charges for walking into her tenant’s home uninvited Friday night.
Just before 10 p.m. Friday, Bridget Mullins Bingham, 53, came through her tenant’s sliding glass door without permission, according to an arrest affidavit. The tenant told Bingham — who had obviously been drinking, according to the tenant — to leave and Bingham argued with her and told her she can come over whenever she wants. The tenant again told Bingham to leave.
The pair began physically fighting and Bingham grabbed her tenant by the hair and pulled her to the ground, according to the affidavit. Bingham began choking the tenant to the point she could not breathe, and the tenant’s daughter was able to pull them apart. Bingham then went back to her home next door.
Lake County Sheriff’s deputies arrived and after getting statements from the tenant and her daughter, a deputy spoke with Bingham. She told the deputy she is, “allowed to walk into the residence next door whenever she feels like it because she has belongings in the house,” the affidavit states. The deputy explained to Bingham because the tenant is a tenant and pays her rent, Bingham cannot just come in the home without notice. The deputy has explained this to Bingham numerous times, because she owns multiple homes in the area, he noted in his report.
Bingham, slurring her words, told the deputy she knocked on the tenant’s door and the tenant pulled her in and began attacking her. She said the tenant’s daughter kicked her in the knee while the pair was on the ground. She requested EMS for her injured knee, but then cancelled before they arrived, the affidavit states. The deputy informed Bingham the tenant wanted to prosecute and she was going to jail. She requested EMS again and claimed she could not walk, even though she made it next door and was upstairs on the deck when he arrived, the deputy noted.
When EMS arrived, Bingham stood up to get on the stretcher and her marijuana pipe fell to the ground. The deputy picked up the pipe and found it was loaded with a green leafy substance that field-tested positive for marijuana. Bingham was taken to Leesburg Regional Medical Center by EMS and after she was cleared from the hospital she was taken to the Lake County Jail and charged with burglary with battery, tampering with evidence, possession of marijuana less than 20 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was released Saturday on $28,000 bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. In addition, she has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
