A Wildwood man was arrested after his nervous behavior at a historic park led to the discovery of methamphetamine.
An officer on patrol noticed a 2002 Chevrolet minivan parked at Bourlay Historic Nature Park, located at 851 N Canal St., at 9:55 p.m. Sunday, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. Backup arrived as the officer watched a woman and a man, identified as 53-year-old David Paul Buechele, walk around the vehicle.
As the officers spoke to the two about random topics, they could see Buechele nervously shaking. He stated he got nervous around the police and quickly denied having something he should not when asked. A subsequent check of his and his companions driving history revealed that neither had a valid license, so they were told they could not drive or stay in the park due to it being after hours, the report said.
A few minutes later, the initial officer was back on patrol when she spotted the same vehicle headed south on Canal Street. She then conducted a traffic stop at RoMac Truss Design Office and Training Center, located at 200 E Main St. Due to there being a dog loudly barking in the vehicle, the occupants were asked to step out, the report said.
The officer proceeded to speak with Buehcele on the passenger side of the vehicle, which he continually looked back at. When asked if there were drugs in the vehicle, he looked back again. The officers next asked if they could search the vehicle, to which the woman stated yes while Buechele quickly and loudly refused, the report said.
His actions led to a K-9 unit responding to the scene and positively alerting to the odor of narcotics. In the search that followed, the officers found a safe disguised as a dictionary on the passenger-side floorboard. It contained multiple baggies, hypodermic needles, glass pipes with burn marks, a cut straw and 1.5 grams of methamphetamine, the report said.
As a result, Buechele, who once made a bogus claim about being hit by a golf cart in The Villages, was detained for questioning. He advised that the items found did not belong to him. He did not use narcotics, and whatever was found was not his, the report said.
But his companion denied the narcotics being hers, as well. She started to cry when asked if they belonged to Buechele and stated he had used narcotics that morning, the report said.
She was ultimately given a citation for driving with a suspended license, and the license plate of the vehicle was seized due to it having a seize-tag order. The vehicle itself was left in the parking lot of the business, the report said.
Buechele, who had faced a burglary charge in 2023, was arrested on charge of possession of methamphetamine. The Georgia native was booked at Lake County Jail and released after posting $2,500 bond.