Elderly Menace Busted For Wild Sunroof Stunt

MAY 10--A 70-year-old Florida motorist was arrested Tuesday after an off-duty cop spotted the suspect driving while “sitting on the sunroof” of his Cadillac sedan, according to court records.

Leonard Olaf Olsen, the accused septuagenarian, was traveling on Interstate 4 around 1 PM on May 7 when the sheriff’s deputy spotted him recklessly driving his vehicle. The deputy, who recorded Olsen in action, estimated that the Cadillac reached speeds in excess of 100 mph.

After the deputy called 911, Florida Highway Patrol officers pulled Olsen over on a Lakeland roadway. He was alone in the vehicle.

After initially claiming not to recall being atop the sunroof, Olsen copped to the dangerous driving (which, he said, occurred while the car was on cruise control).

“The car drives itself and has a gigantic computer in it," Olsen explained. “I thought it would be a nice way to praise God for a minute, and I thought it would be nice at the time and that's what I did.”

Seen in the adjacent mug shot, Olsen was booked into the Polk County lockup on a misdemeanor reckless driving charge. Jail records show that he is also being held on four felonies related to an alleged domestic battery, but court records offer no details of those charges.

Olsen’s rap sheet includes weapons convictions in 2006 and 2017. In the latter case, he was arrested for firing a .40 caliber handgun into the air while standing in the driveway of his Lakeland residence.

Olsen’s wife told police that the July 2017 incident occurred after he “became upset and began to act out in an aggressive manner.” Olsen’s spouse said that before the shooting started, he stated that he “was going to make America Great Again and Donald Trump told him to do it.”

Fearing that Olsen would shoot her, the woman told police that she ran into the couple’s home for safety as Olsen declared, “I’ve got to let the world know this is their last chance.”

During police questioning, Olsen admitted firing the gun “until the ‘clip’ was empty.” While being driven to jail, Olsen reportedly rued not creating a bigger spectacle. “I should have waited until the media showed up,” he said, according to an arrest report. Olsen was subsequently convicted of illegally discharging a weapon and was placed on probation for six months. (2 pages)