A shoplifting suspect was arrested at Home Depot after pills were found in his pickup.
Loss prevention personnel at the store in Lady Lake noted that 40-year-old Jason Lee Heusted of Holiday was behaving in a suspicious manner at about 12:30 p.m. Monday, according to an arrest report from the Lady Lake Police Department. He had loaded a cart with power tools, but left the cart behind and walked out with a pair of wire cutters in his pocket. He had removed the tool from its packaging in the store.
The Arizona native walked to a blue Chevy Silverado pickup and began to drive away. The vehicle’s registration had expired in 2021, but it had a decal attached to the license plate that indicated the registration was valid through May 2023. He was also driving on a suspended license.
A search of the pickup turned up 1.47 grams of methamphetamine and a pill bottle that contained 43 tablets identified as Trazodone Hydrochloride, a drug used to treat depression. He did not have a prescription.
He was arrested on two felony counts of drug possession as well as a third-degree felony charge of driving while license suspended. He was booked at the Lake County Jail on $4,500 bond. Home Depot did not wish to pursue charges in the theft of the wire-cutting tool, which was valued at $21.97. Heusted was issued tickets for an expired registration, unlawful alteration of a tag and no proof of insurance.