A Eustis woman who was arrested for drug possession received additional charges for injuring an officer while trying to escape custody.
An officer responded to an undisclosed Eustis residence regarding a suspicious female knocking on the door around 6:23 p.m. Thursday, according to an arrest report from the Eustis Police Department. Prior to the officer’s arrival, dispatch advised him that the woman was dressed in all grey with a backpack.
Once at the scene, the officer observed 20-year-old McKenzie Marie Hamilton who matched the description given by dispatch, the report said. He approached her, but she immediately began to walk away. She told the officer that she was trying to go home. When asked what she was doing at the residence, she stated, “I just knocked on the door really quick for my brother.”
The officer explained to Hamilton that law enforcement got a call from the homeowner about a suspicious female on the property who matched her description and was knocking on the door. Two more officers arrived on scene as the officer again asked her why she was at the property. She stated that she was on her way to her brother’s house when the man at the residence offered her water, the report said.
One of the officers asked Hamilton if she would allow them to search her bag and person, to which she advised “yes” to the former but not to the latter. She then opened her bookbag and showed the officer its contents, the report said.
The bag contained a case with white pills, Narcan and other miscellaneous items. She advised the pills were just Tylenol, giving one to an officer who confirmed this to be true, the report said.
Another officer then asked Hamilton to empty her jacket’s front pouch pocket. She placed both her hands in the pocket and removed a lighter. Upon doing so, an audible clinking sound came from her person. This prompted an officer to ask why it sounded like that and what she had inside her jack pocket. An officer who was standing next to her observed what appeared to be a glass pipe in the pocket, the report said.
The officers subsequently tried to place Hamilton into custody, but she instantly began to resist and fight with them. She pulled the glass pipe from her pocket and apologized before resisting and being taken to the ground. She still did not listen to the commands of multiple officers telling her to stop resisting and place her hands behind her back, the report said.
Due to this, Hamilton was placed in two handcuffs. Officers helped her off the ground, but she resisted again and was quickly taken to the ground once more. This was when she slipped out of one of her handcuffs, the report said.
While attempting to get her back into handcuffs, an officer was struck on the right side of his face by the loose handcuffs. Hamilton was eventually placed back into handcuffs and taken to the rear of a patrol car where her person was searched, the report said.
A glass pipe with residue was found along with a small glass jar with a dollar bill and white crystal-like substance inside. An officer tested the substance, which was positive for methamphetamine. This was later taken to the EPD and placed into evidence, the report said.
Hamilton was then read her rights, which she waived, and she agreed to speak with officers. When asked who the methamphetamine belonged to, she advised it belonged to the guy who gave her the water bottle. She stated that he must have slipped it in her front jacket pocket, the report said.
EMS was called to the scene. Photographs of the officer’s injury and Hamilton were taken and uploaded for evidence. She was later transported to Lake County Jail where she claimed to the booking staff that she was pregnant. Due to this, an officer took her to AdventHealth Waterman, located at 1000 Waterman Way in Tavares, where it was determined that she was not pregnant, the report said.
The report noted that while at the hospital, Hamilton was very uncooperative with the hospital staff and the officer that took her there. She claimed multiple times that she had to go to the bathroom. Every time she was taken to the bathroom, she was handcuffed due to her prior activities.
While in the bathroom, Hamilton would ramble and stand by the door, claiming she just wanted to go home and would never actually use the bathroom. On the third time that she asked to go to the bathroom, another nurse and the officer waited outside the door. There was a short time where they did not hear any sounds, so the officer asked for a female nurse to enter the bathroom and check on her, the report said.
Upon the door opening, the officer saw that Hamilton’s hands were no longer behind her back but instead inside her front jacket pocket. He asked why her hands were no longer behind her back, to which she took out her right hand from the jacket pocket and stated they slipped out. The officer placed her back into custody and escorted her to her room, where both her hands were handcuffed to the bed, the report said.
Due to Hamilton’s behavior, another officer arrived at the hospital and placed her feet in leg restraints. She was then discharged and taken to Lake County Jail without further incident, the report said.
Hamilton was charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and prisoner escape or attempt escape. Bond was set at $13,500.
