A 49-year-old woman was arrested after she was spotted throwing a marijuana joint out the window of her car Wednesday night on County Road 466A at Canal Street in The Villages.
Leah Renee Pironti, 49, of Lake Panasoffkee, had been driving a car with a headlight out  and was about to be pulled over by a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy when she threw the joint out the car’s window, according to an arrest report.
When the deputy approached her vehicle he recognized the smell of marijuana. Pironti had first denied she had thrown anything out the window. During a search of her vehicle, the deputy found a pill bottle containing marijuana inside Pironti’s purse. When the deputy asked Pironti if the marijuana belonged to her, she said, “Yes, that’s mine, I smoke weed.” She was also found to have rolling papers in her possession.
She also stated she normally only smokes marijuana at home, but was upset by an argument she got into with her son and decided to put her “weed” in her purse before she left. She said she was so upset she started smoking the joint when she left her residence.
Pironti was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of drug equipment. She was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Bond was set at $2,000.
