A 28-year-old Ocala man reportedly had meth in his sock and a pipe in his pocket when he was pulled over for speeding at the Cracker Barrel in Leesburg.
At around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, a Leesburg police officer observed a black four-door car traveling south at a high speed on U.S. Highway 441. Radar showed the vehicle was going 72 mph in an area where the speed limit is 45 mph, according to the police report.
The officer conducted a traffic stop and the driver pulled into the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel restaurant, 9450 U.S. Hwy. 441. The driver – Nicholas George Bruno, of 5840 SW 59th St. in Ocala – knew why he was pulled over and said, “I had to be doing at least 80 mph.” The officer immediately recognized the smell of marijuana emitting from the open window of the vehicle, the report said.
Bruno told the officer he had recently smoked a marijuana cigarette inside the vehicle and that there might be remnants left over in the car. He was removed from the vehicle as the officer prepared to search it. Bruno then spontaneously said he had a “bubble” in his pocket, which a common term used to describe a glass pipe used to smoke narcotics. He said he recently used the pipe to smoke crystal meth, according to the report.
The officer removed the pipe from Bruno’s pocket and observed it contained a burnt residue consistent with crystal methamphetamine. Bruno was searched and the officer found a small plastic bag containing a crystal rock-like substance that tested positive for methamphetamine. The bag weighed 1.2 grams, the report said.
Bruno was taken to the Leesburg Police Department and booked on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released from the Lake County Jail the next day on $3,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on June 13.
