Two people wanted on trespassing warrants were found to be in possession of drugs.
An officer spotted 34-year-old April Nicole Huff and 27-year-old Daniel Hernandez driving a blue Saturn SUV westbound on Shiloh Street at 1:41 p.m. Monday, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department. He ran a check on the license plate and learned that Huff was the registered owner and had an active warrant for theft out of Lake County.
The officer proceeded to initiate a traffic stop and identified Huff and Hernandez, who was recently involved in a trespassing case. He returned to his patrol car to conduct a warrant search on Hernandez and found that he also had an active arrest warrant for trespassing out of Lake County, the report said.
The officer approached Huff and ordered her out of the vehicle, at which point she was placed under arrest for her warrant. As she got out, the officer noticed a blue bag that was positioned between the driver’s seat and the door. Huff was placed into a patrol vehicle before the officer returned to her vehicle to arrest Hernandez, the report said.
Before placing Hernandez into the patrol vehicle, the officer searched him, where he found a plastic baggie hidden in his right front pocket. Inside were four small plastic baggies that contained a white powder believed to be fentanyl. He also found two $100 bills and one $10 bill, although the two $100 bills were found to be counterfeit, the report said.
Based on the officer’s findings, he established probable cause to search the area directly where Hernandez was seated for more contraband. He subsequently found a jeweler’s scale on the floorboard where Hernandez’ feet were. The scale was covered in a white powder similar to the powder found on his person, the report said.
The officer also discovered a dark plastic case on the floorboard near where Hernandez sat. In the case was a pink wallet containing a plastic card and driver’s license belonging to Huff. There was also a small baggie of crystalized substance believed to be methamphetamine and several pieces of tin foil with burnt residue which the officer knew to be associated with fentanyl, the report said.
Due to finding additional illegal items in the vehicle, the officer established probable cause to search the rest of it. He observed the blue bag still near Huff’s seat and went through its contents. He thus found a small pouch inside the bag that contained a small plastic baggie with a brown oily substance suspected to be heroin, the report said.
The bag also had another baggie of suspected methamphetamine along with two round blue pills imprinted with “M30.” A used syringe concealed in a cut straw was in the bag and another straw containing a white powder residue was found, as well, the report said.
Huff and Hernandez were read their rights, which they both understood, and they agreed to answer the officer’s questions. Huff advised that she used heroin and claimed ownership of the plastic case and blue bag. She also claimed ownership of the scale, however the officer had reason to believe it actually belonged to Hernandez, the report said.
Hernandez stated that the powder in the baggies found on his person was heroin. When questioned about the counterfeit bills, he advised that he got them as payment for mowing a lawn and had been meaning to return them to the person who paid him, the report said.
The officer transported both suspects to Lake County Jail where he conducted field tests for the suspected narcotics. The four baggies of white powder found on Hernandez were positive for fentanyl and weighed about 0.3 grams each. Both baggies of suspected methamphetamine found among Huff’s belongings were positive for such with a weight of about 0.5 grams each. The brown oily substance in Huff’s bag was also positive for fentanyl and weighed about 1.5 grams. The two pills found in her things were identified as oxycodone, the report said.
At the end of the investigation, Huff was charged with possession of fentanyl, methamphetamine, oxycodone and drug paraphernalia. Her bond was set at $10,000. Hernandez was charged with possession of fentanyl (with intent to sell) and drug paraphernalia. His bond was set at $4,500.
