The former community relations director at an assisted living facility in The Villages has been placed on probation after cocaine was discovered in his briefcase after a car crash.
Daniel Ward Shelley, 40, of Ocala was driving at 8 am. New Year’s Eve when his Audi A6 rear-ended a Toyota SUV on County Road 466 near Southern Trace Plaza in The Villages. At the time, Shelley was working as the community relations director at Serenades by Sonata Memory Care Assisted Living in The Villages. He is now working as an independent consultant.
“While speaking with both drivers, the driver/owner of the white Audi appeared to be impaired by drugs and/or alcohol due to his inability to keep his balance, slurred speech, and was dropping items from his wallet multiple times,” the deputy wrote in the arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
Shelley struggled through field sobriety exercises and told the deputy he was “getting over the flu and was taking antibiotics and steroids,” the report said.
A briefcase in Shelley’s vehicle was found to contain cocaine and a blue straw. Shelley said he had been holding it “for his friend,” the report said.
A breath test showed Shelley had not been drinking. He provided a urine sample.
Earlier this month in Sumter County Court, a charge of DUI property damage was dismissed. He was on probation in connection with charges of possession of cocaine and possession of drug equipment. He did not have any previous criminal history.