A Fort Myers man and an Ohio woman traveling through Sumter County were arrested Saturday night after Wildwood police officers received a call about a man passed out in a Greyhound bus bathroom.
Officers were called to the Florida Turnpike Okahumpka Service Plaza around 9 p.m. and when they arrived, the bus driver and a passenger identified 31-year-old Joshua Glen Miller, of Fort Myers, as the man who had been found in the bus bathroom, along with a syringe on the counter, a Wildwood Police report states.
Miller told officers he didn’t have anything illegal on him and agreed to be searched. A short time later, they found a small clear baggy containing a powdery residue inside his backpack. An oval metal case containing two pills identified as Buprenorphine Hydrochloride, a scheduled narcotic, also were found, the report says.
Miller claimed the powdery substance was from crushed up pills and told the officers “not to bother” testing it for cocaine, because if anything, it would test positive for heroin, the report says, adding that the test came up negative.
Meanwhile, officers also made contact with 45-year-old Tina Michele Newell, who was sitting next to Miller on the bus and was believed to be his traveling partner. Newell, of Zanesville, Ohio, was sitting next to green and black bags, which she said were hers and then “spontaneously uttered” that officers could search them, a police report states.
Inside the bags, officers located at black wallet containing a Florida identification card in Newell’s name. And after checking into her background, they discovered that she had an active warrant out of Ohio, the report says.
The officer also found JOB rolling papers and a blue plastic jewelry box container a green leafy substance that field tested positive for marijuana, the report says.
When asked about the jewelry case, Newell responded, “I’ve been looking for that for awhile now.” When asked what was inside the container, she said, “Weed,” and then confirmed that the drug belonged to her, the report says.
Both Miller and Newell were taken into custody and transported to the Sumter County Detention Center. Miller who lives at 2603 SW 34th St. in Fort Myers, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and held on $2,000 bond. Newell, who resides at 731 Market St. in Zanesville, Ohio, was charged with possession of marijuana not more than 20 grams and possession of drug equipment and also was being held on $2,000 bond.