By Joel Anderson, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, September 9, 2010
BROOKSVILLE — Hernando sheriff's deputies have arrested a registered sexual predator on charges of domestic battery and driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Bruce Wayne Brady, 38, of Brooksville was taken into custody Thursday afternoon and booked into the Hernando County Jail. He remained behind bars in lieu of $500 bail.
According to arrest reports, a detective saw Brady drive through the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Broad Street about 2 p.m. The detective said Brady failed to come to a complete stop at the intersection, so he attempted to initiate a traffic stop.
Brady then waved his arm out of the driver's side window, signaling to the detective to follow him. He came to a stop in the driveway of a home in the 18000 block of Spangler Avenue, the report said.
When asked why he didn't stop sooner, Brady told the detective, "I knew I was going to jail, and I wanted to get the car back home."
Once at the home, the detective investigated an allegation that Brady took the vehicle from his girlfriend without permission. The girlfriend's father reported that he heard a commotion between his daughter and Brady, and then went outside and saw them wrestling around on the ground for the car keys.
Brady then took the keys, got into the car and drove away with his girlfriend begging him to stop, according to the report.
The girlfriend would not cooperate, the detective said, but indicated that she and Brady had been in an altercation over the use of the car.
Brady said he took the keys from his girlfriend's purse and denied touching her.
A computer check later revealed that Brady's driver's license is suspended and there have been at least five revocations, most recently in 1994.
Brady has a lengthy criminal history, including a five-year prison sentence for pimping, cocaine possession and driving with a suspended or revoked license. He has also been arrested previously on charges of lewd and lascivious assault on a child younger than 16, trafficking in stolen property and grand theft.