A resident of the Historic Side of The Villages complained of chest pain after an officer found fentanyl in his wallet at Wawa.
While patrolling a high crime area, an officer observed a white 2010 Nissan Titan pickup truck parked at Wawa, located at U.S. 301 and County Road 466, at 11:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. The female driver and passenger, later identified as 55-year-old Clinton Albert Springer, were stopped at the air pumps but not filling up the tires.
The officer thought this was strange and suspicious. The vehicle sat there for several minutes, increasing his belief of illegal activity or nervousness about his presence in a patrol vehicle. A short time later, the vehicle began to leave the parking lot and ran a stop sign while heading onto West County Road 466, the report said.
As a result, the officer stopped the vehicle just north of County Road 466 on U.S. 301. He explained the reason for the stop to the driver who admitted her fault and the violation. Both she and Springer appeared to be extremely nervous due to being overly talkative, a common sign of the deception that the officer knew through experience, the report said.
The officer also noticed the driver had “meth mouth,” which is a term used to describe the effects of methamphetamine characterized by severe tooth decay, brown or discolored teeth and tooth loss. Spring tried to light a cigarette, as well, a tactic used to deter police K-9s in sniffing out narcotics, the report said.
Due to the circumstances, the officer brought out his K-9 to sniff around the outside of the vehicle. The K-9 alerted to the odor of narcotics, and a search of the vehicle followed. The officer found numerous torch lighters throughout the passenger side, one sheet of unused by torn tinfoil, numerous doses of used and unused Narcan, a small container with crystalline residue, a small scale, and colored pencils and pens, the report said.
Springer was searched next, yielding a small piece of tinfoil with a white powdery substance in his wallet. This tested positive for fentanyl and weighed 0.5 grams, the report said.
Once this was found, Springer complained of “chest pain.” He was taken by EMS to UF Health Spanish Plaines Hospital to be medically cleared, the report said.
Springer was ultimately arrested on charge of possession of controlled substance without prescription. He was transported to the Sumter County Detention Center with bond set at $5,000.