A Leesburg woman was jailed recently after she was spotted stepping in and out of traffic in front of Rural King on Citrus Boulevard.
A Leesburg Police officer made contact with 39-year-old Dana Andrea Qualls, who said she was asking people in the store’s parking lot for cigarettes. The officer explained that people had been calling the police department because they were concerned for her well-being.
Qualls claimed she was “fine” and was going to walk to a friend’s house. The officer told Qualls that she needed to stay on the sidewalk and avoid the roadway. She agreed and started walking east toward U.S. Hwy. 441.
As Qualls started walking away from the officer, a glass pipe fell to the ground from her right side. The officer asked her to stop and as he approached her, Qualls stopped walking, looked down and broke the glass pipe by placing her right foot on it, the report says.
The officer detained Qualls and asked her what she had stepped on. She claimed she didn’t step on anything and the officer escorted her to his patrol vehicle. Qualls was placed under arrest and the residue found on the broken pieces of the pipe tested positive for methamphetamine, the report says.
Qualls, who lives at 1305 Sunshine Ave. in Leesburg, was booked into the Lake County Jail and charged with possession and/or use of drug equipment and destroying evidence. She was being held on $6,000 bond and is due in court March 1 at 8:30 a.m., jail records show.
