A Leesburg woman was arrested on drug charges for the second time this year after an officer saw her leaving a known drug house in Eustis and pulled her over for having only one brake light working.
Katie Rene Oakley, 32, of 37546 Quail Ridge Circle, was charged with possession of a controlled substance (fentanyl) without a prescription and possession of drug equipment. She was also charged with violating the bond from her arrest in January for possession of methamphetamine, possession of crack cocaine, and possession of drug equipment.
At around 12:40 a.m. Sunday, a Eustis police officer observed a red pickup truck leave the residence of 309 E. Woodward Ave. and start heading east on Woodward. The vehicle made a left turn northbound onto S. Center Street and approached the stop sign at E. Key Avenue. At that point, the officer saw only the rear passenger-side brake light working. The driver-side brake light appeared to have red tape on it but failed to illuminate, according to the police report.
The vehicle turned left and headed west on Key Avenue and approached the intersection with S. Grove Street, where the brake light again failed to illuminate. The officer conducted a traffic stop after the vehicle turned onto Grove Street and spoke with Oakley, who was the driver and only occupant. Oakley said she had dropped a friend off at a house about two blocks away. The officer noted in the report that 309 E. Woodward Ave. is a known drug house where the officer personally served a narcotic search warrant that resulted in multiple arrests.
Asked if there was anything illegal inside the vehicle, Oakley said no and gave officers permission to search it. During the search, the officer found a piece of tin foil with burnt residue on it and a metal rod that appeared to have been converted into a smoking pipe. The officer recognized the tin foil as a common way to smoke heroin/fentanyl and is known on the streets as a “boat.” Both the pipe and tin foil were found on the driver’s seat and would have been under Oakley’s legs as she was sitting down. When told that the “boat” was found, Oakley said, “Oh (expletive deleted),” the report said.
Oakley was placed in handcuffs as officers continued searching the vehicle. Inside a blue purse, which an officer saw Oakley rummaging through before she got out of the vehicle, was a black magnetic box containing three more pieces of tin foil and another item that had been converted into a pipe. One of the pieces of tin foil contained a brown, waxy substance that tested positive for fentanyl. Officers also found a digital scale in the vehicle, according to the report.
Oakley, who has multiple drug convictions in addition to her arrest in January, was booked at the Eustis Police Department and lodged in the Lake County Jail, where she’s being held on $5,000 bond. Oakley will appear in Lake County Court at 8:30 a.m. May 23.