A traffic stop for speeding led to the arrest of a Umatilla man when drugs were found inside his rectum.
A Lake County Sheriff’s Office K-9 deputy was on traffic patrol early Tuesday morning when he clocked a car traveling at 68 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. He stopped the car at the intersection of County Road 473 and Allyson Road in Leesburg. After informing the driver of the reason for the stop, the deputy asked if there was anything illegal in the car. The deputy asked for permission to search the vehicle. The driver refused to give permission to search the car, so the deputy had his K-9, Jim, perform an open air sniff test for narcotics. The K-9 alerted on the vehicle and the K-9 deputy, who was being assisted by another deputy, removed the driver and his passenger, 31-year-old Joshua Cranmer, from the car. The deputies had the two men stand in front of a patrol car. A bag containing crack cocaine was found on the passenger side floor by the K-9 officer.
Another officer found a baggie near where the men were standing. This baggie contained methamphetamine. It also appeared to have fecal matter on it. An examination of Cranmer’s boxer shorts showed they contained fecal material.
When the officer went back to his patrol car and watched the video of the two men in front of his car, he saw Cranmer reach into the back of his pants as if he was removing something. The officer searched Cranmer’s buttocks, according to the arrest report. During the search the deputy felt something hard in Cranmer’s buttocks. When asked if he had anything else hidden on him, Cranmer began to cry and said he did not and said he had a “bowel issue.” As Cranmer moved away from the search area the deputy found a gold cylinder which appeared to have fecal matter on it. The cylinder contained a controlled substance, MDMA and cocaine.
Cranmer was place under arrest and was booked at the Lake County Jail on three counts of possession of controlled substances. He was released after posting $6,000 bond.
