A Leesburg man who claimed he has been living in the woods was arrested for possession of methamphetamine.
Jesse Paul Jester, 36, was spotted standing on the sidewalk along Dixie Avenue around 7:40 p.m. Monday by an officer, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department.
As the officer approached Jester, he noticed a another man riding into the nearby woods on a bicycle. The officer ordered both men to approach the side of his patrol car for further investigation. Both men said they lived in the wooded area.
The officer asked Jester if he had anything illegal on his person, at which point Jester reached into his pockets several times, the report said. The officer could see multiple pocketknives clipped to Jester’s waistband and a large, concealed kitchen knife. Jester told the officer that he was in possession of a small amount of marijuana.
Jester was asked to place his hands on his head while the officer removed the knives from his waistband. The officer placed Jester in handcuffs and asked him where the marijuana was. Jester told the officer it was in his back pocket and motioned to the right side of his pants, said the report.
The report stated that the officer searched the pocket and found a plastic sandwich bag containing a crystallized substance. A cut blue straw was found, as well, which the officer knew was used to ingest narcotics through the nose. A field test of the bag’s contents yielded positive results for methamphetamine.
Jester was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was transported to the Lake County Jail with bond set at $3,000.