A Fruitland Park man was jailed after allegedly swallowing marijuana in an attempt to avoid arrest.
Jose Ferrer Morales, 27, had been speeding in an SUV on Tuesday on County Road 466A at Timbertop Lane when he was pulled over by a Fruitland Park police officer.
When the officer made contact with Morales, he was lighting a cigarette and appeared nervous, according to an arrest report.
The officer could smell the odor of marijuana.
When asked about the marijuana, Morales said there was no marijuana and he appeared to be having “a hard time swallowing,” the arrest report indicated.
The officer asked Morales to open his mouth.
“When he did I observed his green tongue and the same leafy substance on his tongue and in his teeth, his breath had an odor of unburnt marijuana,” the officer wrote in his report.
A search of the vehicle turned up an additional marijuana cigar on the floor of the vehicle.
Morales was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and tampering with evidence. He was booked on $8,000 bond at the Lake County Jail.
He had been arrested earlier this year on charges of battery, criminal mischief and depriving use of 911.
