A Villager and his Wildwood man friend were jailed Friday after Wildwood Police officers were forced into a short pursuit of a vehicle with an inoperable headlight.
Officers activated their emergency lights and sirens several times before the light-colored pickup truck stopped behind a business at Schmid Lane and Cleveland Avenue. They then made contact with the driver, 39-year-old Drayton Lee Bergmann Simpson and his passenger, 44-year-old Jeffrey Marshall Rapier.
Simpson told officers he knew they were attempting to stop him but he kept driving because he didn’t have a valid license and didn’t want to go to jail. A computer check showed that Simpson, who lives at 3615 County Road 230 in Wildwood, has four prior convictions for driving while license suspended – Nov. 19, 2019; Oct. 12, 2017; Aug. 2, 2011 and Jan. 15, 2010 – and his license was canceled on Feb. 25.
Rapier, who lives at 1963 Eldridge Loop in the Village of Pennecamp, told officers he was the registered owner of the vehicle and gave them consent to search it for any weapons or narcotics. Officers then located a container behind the middle seat “easily accessible” by Rapier’s left hand that contained a crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine, a Wildwood Police report states, adding that Rapier also was wanted on an active warrant.
Both Rapier and Simpson were placed under arrest and transported to the Sumter County Detention Center. Rapier was charged with possession of and/or use of drug equipment and failure to appear in court on a previous charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released late Friday afternoon on $4,000 bond.
Simpson was charged with fleeing/eluding police and driving while license suspended (habitual offender). He also was released late Friday afternoon on $4,000 bond.
Simpson, who has been held in the Sumter County Detention Center 10 times since January 2010, also was arrested in in October 2017 when he was stopped while driving a black Lexus. A computer check showed that Simpson’s license had multiple suspensions but he claimed he wasn’t aware of it, a report states.
The Villages home Rapier lives in is owned by Ralph M. and Dianne Rapier. It was built in 2010 and the Rapier’s purchased it in July 2012 for $325,000, according to records on file with the Sumter County property appraiser’s office.