A Groveland man was arrested after he provided a false name when he showed up at Eustis High School to pick up a student he claimed was his niece.
At around noon Thursday, the man arrived at the school, located at 1801 E. Bates Ave., to pick up a female juvenile who had been arrested and was being turned over to her legal guardian. The man told a Eustis police officer he was the girl’s uncle and provided a name and birth date, but he didn’t have a driver’s license or ID card, according to the police report.
The officer searched multiple databases for the information the man provided without getting any results. When told his license information wasn’t found, the man said it was a Michigan license, but that didn’t check out, either. When asked for his social security number, the man said it started with 595 and he didn’t know the rest of it, the report said.
The officer observed the man smelled of marijuana and appeared very nervous. He told the man he needs to see ID because he didn’t believe him and that this was a safety issue because he was trying to check a female student out of school, according to the report.
The man said he had paperwork in his car, but when he and the officer went to the vehicle, he was unable to find it. The officer noticed the smell of marijuana emitting from the vehicle, too. After continuing to give a phony name and birth date to the officer, the man finally identified himself as 23-year-old Brandon Alexander Mitchell Sanchez, the report said.
After being placed under arrest, Mitchell Sanchez admitted he was not the juvenile’s uncle and was just a friend she texted to come pick her up from school. Police searched his vehicle and found a green Crown Royal bag on the floor containing several other plastic bags containing a green leafy substance that tested positive for marijuana. A burnt marijuana cigarette was found in an ash tray in the back seat. The marijuana weighed 32.7 grams, according to the report.
Mitchell Sanchez was charged with possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, providing a false name to a law enforcement officer, and trespassing on school grounds. He was taken to the Lake County Jail, where he was released Friday on $6,000 bond. Mitchell Sanchez is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Jan. 9.
