CCSO K-9 tracks down woman running from high-speed chase

MIDDLEBURG – A 34-year-old woman was arrested after she ran from Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies and was caught by one of the agency’s K-9 deputies.
Teresa Lynn Rigby, of Middleburg, was charged with grand theft auto, possession of crack cocaine, resisting arrest, driving despite never being issued a license, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage
after a deputy saw her driving southbound in the northbound lane of Hibiscus Avenue. When he attempted to stop the Ford pickup, CCSO said she drove away at a high rate of speed. She lost control of the car and she bailed from the moving vehicle and ran into the woods on Hibiscus. The pickup truck eventually crashed through a fence and came to rest in a ditch.
K-9 Cash was deployed and the dog tracked her down to a porch at the same property where the car crashed.
Her bond was set at $57,612.

Man charged with defrauding workman’s compensation

JACKSONVILLE – A man was arrested and charged with defrauding the Workman’s Compensation program for paying workers “off the books” to reduce the cost of his workman’s compensation insurance premiums.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said Juan Luis Menera Ayala’s payrolls was more than $100,000, but some of his employees were paid in cash so minimize the cost of his policy.
He was charged with workman’s compensation fraud and failure to collect wage deductions from employees. Although he listed Jacksonville as his current address, he was arrested on Jan. 27 in Bunnell. CCSO said he is accused of committing fraud when he lived in Orange Park.
Menera Ayala’s bond was set at $35,006.

Deputies discover pot plants checking out domestic disturbance

MIDDLEBURG – Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a home on Teaberry Drive on Jan. 31 for a disturbance, and they wound up finding marijuana plants growing in a spare bedroom.
Sean Dustin Letterle, 31, of Middleburg, was charged with the cultivation of marijuana.
When deputies arrived at the home, they couldn’t make contact with the wife. When Letterle came home, he gave them permission to check the house to make sure she was all right. They found her hiding in a bathtub in the spare room. They also found two marijuana cultivation tents and ultraviolet lights.

Jacksonville man charged with stalking Clay County woman

JACKSONVILLE – A man ordered not to contact a local woman was arrested after he sent her emails and was caught with a firearm less than two miles from her house, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said.
Raymond Curry Leathers, 47, was charged on Jan. 31 with aggravated stalking in violation of a court order and violating an injunction for protection against domestic violence with two or more prior convictions after the sheriff’s office and the U.S. Marshal Service tracked Leathers down to his home in Jacksonville.
According to the arrest warrant, Leathers is accused of sending the woman emails on several occasions between Dec. 5, 2020, and Oct. 12, 2021.
A Clay County judge signed the injunction on Dec. 5. 2020, that restricted Leathers from contacting the woman or being within 500 feet of her current address.
Leathers is being held at the Clay County Jail without bond.