A 50-year-old Villager was arrested on drug charges Friday night at the Wal-Mart on Wedgewood Lane of County Road 466 in The Villages.
Kenneth Ray Padgett of the Village of Orange Blossom Gardens is facing a felony charge of drug possession and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug equipment.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a suspicious person in the parking lot of Wal-Mart. A K-9 detected an odor of drugs at Padgett’s vehicle, according to the arrest report.
A search of the vehicle turned up a metal smoking pipe containing what appeared to be residue of smoked marijuana and a digital scale, the arrest report indicated. A spoon containing a partially dissolved pill which field tested positive for Diazepam was located in the center console of the vehicle.
Padgett denied any knowledge of the items found in the vehicle, the report said.
He was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center where bond was set at $5,000.