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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Leesburg woman nabbed with drugs after boyfriend stopped for defective tail light

Lauren Murphy
Lauren Murphy

A woman who was a passenger in her boyfriend’s car ended up in police custody when his car was stopped Wednesday evening for a defective tail light.

The police stopped a white Chevy Malibu with a burned-out tail light near the intersection of Tuskegee Street and Griffin Road, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. When the officer made contact with the driver, 36-year-old Jonathan Lucas, the officer discovered Lucas was driving the car after his license had been suspended. When asked if he had anything illegal in the vehicle both he and his passenger, 30-year-old Lauren M. Murphy of Leesburg, said “No.” Lucas also refused to allow the police to search his car.

Murphy originally told the officer that her name was Katie D. Chapman and provided two bogus birthdates. Dispatch had no information on that name with either birthdates so the officers contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office  for assistance in determining her true identity using their Rapid ID equipment.

While waiting for the deputies, a K-9 officer performed a sniff test around the exterior of the car. The K-9 alerted on the car indicating the presence of drugs, prompting a search. Murphy had been sitting in the car holding a black Adidas backpack and the officers discovered digital scales, a baggie containing methamphetamine and hypodermic needles. She was placed under arrest. Shortly thereafter the deputies arrived with the Rapid ID equipment and scanned her fingerprints, leading to the discovery of her true identity.

Murphy was charged with obstructing arrest without violence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug equipment. She was booked on $6,000 bond at the Lake County Jail.

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