HomeCrimeSt. Petersburg woman arrested after trooper tells her she can’t sleep on the shoulder of I-75

St. Petersburg woman arrested after trooper tells her she can’t sleep on the shoulder of I-75

November 8, 2023

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.

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. 

    • Nice one! LMFAO 🤣 However, Her last name would be Yndrome. The correct spelling is Syndrome and I’m still laughing.!

  • Should apply for political asylum and ask for a motel and related expenses voucher. Refuse to name the country it’s an alphabet agency need to know item.

  • There’s a bum sleeping under the 8th Ave & 13th St bridge last night. There was a bum sleeping in the open lot on the west side of the bridge, and there’s a bum camp with trash on the west side of the bridge…things are getting worse. They should be at Grace Marketplace…it’s poor management by the GNVCC and city manager…they need to get tough on the dirty useless bums & panhandlers
    Already…I pay over $30,000 in property tax yearly in Alachua county and this is what I get.

  • they need to make a bum jitney and bus the bums & panhandlers back to where they came from. in this case, send her back to pinellas county. we don’t need any more vagrants here. Time for zero tolerance and make Grace temporary 3 day help and bus them all out of here with zero tolerance!

  • Those a pretty specific judicial instructions: “not to return to the northbound shoulder of I-75 at mile marker 404”.

    • yep, so now she will just start walking and sleeping on the southbound shoulder of I-75. lol

  • Love it when cops get all but hurt because people don’t OBEY THEIR COMMANDS. To bad she had to go to jail for it.

    • And if you or someone else ran into her because she was sleeping/walking on I75??? It’s a big safety issue. And your insurance company wouldn’t like having to pay for damages caused to your vehicle

  • She should walk to New York City and say she is an illegal migrant. She could be sleeping in a 4-star hotel.

  • First and foremost that’s is my sister and she’s been missing from Pinellas county and has a disability she has the mentality of a 3-year-old. Sad that such humans can make fun of someone with a disability

    • Well, can you possibly get word to your sister that sleeping around with I-75 is dangerous to normal people driving their cars and trucks at 80 mph?
      Or has the unspoken drugs and alcohol fried the part of her mind that justifies sleeping on the side of I-75?

    • How about coming and getting her. If what you say is true then she needs to be in a group home instead of wandering the interstates. Have you reported this information to local law enforcement so they can help you get her. Or hold her till you or other family can arrive to collect her and take her back to pinellas county.

    • Well Melissa, you know where she is now come and get her and provide the care you say she needs.

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