A Leesburg woman caught dumpster diving in Eustis last week told police the drugs in her possession weren’t hers.
Michelle Marie Haremaker, 49, of 10550 Holloway Drive, was charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of Oxycodone after a Eustis Police officer noticed a silver Jeep parked near a dumpster behind Lake Hills Plaza, 2804 S. Bay St., and a woman digging through the dumpster shortly before midnight Feb. 28.
Haremaker, who was the only person in or around the vehicle, told the officer she was dumpster diving for items to give to the homeless. The officer ran her license information through Eustis dispatch and was told it was suspended in October 2020. The officer was also told to seize the license tag if Haremaker was the owner of the vehicle, according to the police report.
After Haremaker gave permission to search the vehicle, the officer found a woman’s purse on the driver’s seat with a red wallet inside. Inside the wallet was a crumpled Wal-Mart receipt with two white pills with markings of RP 10, which were identified through an internet search as Oxycodone. Haremaker couldn’t provide a prescription for the pills, the report said.
Also found in the purse was a white crystal substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. After being read her Miranda warning, Haremaker said the purse and wallet were hers and that a friend had spilled his prescribed Vicodin for his chemotherapy and the pills must have spilled in her purse. Asked about the meth, she said another friend must have left it in her purse. Haremaker said she did not have a prescription for the Oxycodone, according to the report.
Haremaker was taken to the Lake County Jail, where she was released March 1 on $4,000 bond. She is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on March 29.
