A Maryland couple was arrested at an Interstate 75 rest area in Sumter County after a bystander saw the wife hit her husband.
A deputy responded to the southbound rest area on I-75 in Webster regarding a physical disturbance at 11:25 p.m. Thursday, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. An employee at the rest stop had seen 38-year-old Mark Bradley Koerber and 29-year-old Christy Leigh Yesnick arguing in the parking lot, and she struck him.
Upon arrival, the deputy found Koerber standing outside the passenger door of a red Toyota car. Koerber stated he and his wife, Yesnick, were just arguing, and nothing else happened. He did not sustain any injuries and told the deputy to ask Yesnick what happened, the report said.
Yesnick advised that the argument started when Koerber told her that he relapsed from substance abuse. An argument ensued, and she shoved him. She also went through his pockets and found a black crack pipe, which she threw toward the east side of the parking lot, the report said.
The employee corroborated Yesnick’s story, adding that Yesnick sped off in the vehicle to leave Koerber at the rest area. She showed up shortly after and began arguing with him in front of the employee’s office. That was when the employee saw Yesnick hit Koerber in the back of the head, leading her to call law enforcement, the report said.
Yesnick later showed the deputy where the pipe landed. She informed him that Koerber had a history of crack use, which was what the pipe contained. The deputy saw it was partially broken and tested the white residue within the pipe, revealing a positive result for crack cocaine, the report said.
A subsequent inventory of their car led to the discovery of an L&M cigarette box that was almost empty except for a small baggie of crack cocaine. The deputy spoke to Koerber again to ask him about the narcotics, to which he stated he thought Yesnick threw everything away. He also said there was nothing to talk about because he was already going to jail, the report said.
Koerber was ultimately arrested on charges of possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia. He was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center with bond set at $3,500.
Yesnick was arrested on charge of battery (second or subsequent offense) due to prior guilty convictions for misdemeanor battery in 2017 and battery in 2021. The New Jersey native was taken to the detention center with bond set at $1,000.