A guilty look on a Leesburg man’s face tipped off a Clermont Police officer that he had drugs in his vehicle.
Joseph Warren McMurphy, 32, of 35706 Shelley Drive, was charged with possession of amphetamine and possession of hydrocodone after being pulled over at around 5 p.m. Friday.
The officer was parked on the west side of East Avenue near West Desoto Street when a silver Chrysler passed him while heading south on East Avenue. The officer saw the driver – later identified as McMurphy — look at him while passing. McMurphy, who had been smiling and looking at the passenger, suddenly switched to a blank facial expression and started looking straight ahead after seeing the officer, according to the police report.
The officer pulled behind McMurphy’s vehicle to make further observations and McMurphy made an abrupt right turn onto West Broome Street and backed into a parking space near 1006 East Ave. McMurphy and the passenger then got out of the vehicle and McMurphy headed towards several businesses while the passenger walked towards several portable bathrooms in an empty lot, the report said.
McMurphy paced around the parking for several minutes, looked around, and then returned to the vehicle around the same time the passenger returned. Due to their strange behavior, the officer decided to speak to them to dispel a fear they were committing or had committed a crime, according to the report
Both men appeared nervous and were pacing back and forth even after the officer asked them to stand next to the vehicle. Both men asked several times if they could retrieve something from the vehicle. The officer asked McMurphy why he was trying to get away from him and he said his license plate was expired and he didn’t want to get pulled over. The officer ran the license plate and discovered it was registered on a homemade trailer, the report said.
A K-9 unit arrived and conducted a free air sniff, which resulted in a positive response. The vehicle was searched and a black backpack was located in the back seat on the driver’s side. Inside the front compartment was a capsule bearing the inscription “Watson 853” that was later identified as acetaminophen and hydrocodone, according to the report.
In the main compartment was a small black lockbox containing five unused syringes and one loaded syringe. Also found was a small blue cylinder containing a brown powder substance that tested positive for amphetamine. The officer also found a paper prescription for buprenorphine hydrochloride with McMurphy’s name on it, the report said.
McMurphy was arrested and taken to the Lake County Jail, where he was released later that night on $4,000 bond. He’ll answer to the drug charges in Lake County Court on June 7.
