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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Summerfield man once nabbed in hit-and-run crash at Villages gate back in jail

Mark Phillip Martin
Mark Phillip Martin

A Summerfield man who was once arrested for a hit-and-run crash in a Villages roundabout is back behind bars after his vehicle was spotted Sunday night by a Marion County sheriff’s deputy as it drifted across a local roadway.

The sheriff’s deputy was conducting a routine patrol when he saw a blue 2007 Mercury Grand Marquis strike the solid white line in the 9400 block of S.E. Sunset Harbor Road and almost leave the pavement. He activated his emergency lights and the vehicle, driven by Mark Phillip Martin, didn’t stop until it reached the 14600 block of S.E. 90th Avenue, a sheriff’s office report states.

The deputy made contact with Martin, who said he didn’t stop immediately because he was “so close to home.” The deputy reported smelling a strong odor of fresh marijuana coming from the vehicle. When asked how much marijuana he had, Martin replied, “Approximately a half,” the report says.

After exiting the vehicle and being read his rights, Martin said he didn’t have a marijuana card and there was about a half an ounce of the drug inside the vehicle underneath the rear seat. He said there also was THC wax in the same location, the report says.

A K-9 deputy searched underneath the back seat and found three baggies of a green leafy substance that field-tested positive for marijuana, a small container with a tannish wax-like substance inside it that tested positive for THC/marijuana and two vape pipes, of which contained a thick tannish oil that also tested positive for THC/marijuana, the report says.

Deputies then conducted a test on the marijuana that showed it had been laced with Fentanyl/heroin. Deputies also reported that the marijuana weighed about 23.5 grams and Martin had more than four grams of Fentanyl, which is a trafficking amount, the report says.

Martin, who lives at 14484 S.E. 90th Ave. in Summerfield and was cooperative with deputies throughout the traffic stop, was placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail. He was charged with trafficking in Fentanyl (four grams or more), possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was being held on $28,000 bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.

Martin also was arrested in May 2017 after a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy saw his vehicle speed away from an accident involving the entrance gate at Morse Boulevard and El Camino Real. When the deputy approached Martin’s vehicle, he detected the odor of burnt marijuana and a marijuana cigarette was found on the floorboard, a report states.

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