A pair of smokers lit up cigarettes to try to throw off a K-9 during traffic stop.
An officer observed a silver 2001 Toyota Tundra pickup truck headed east on County Road 466 around 10 p.m. Thursday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department. It did not have two working taillights, leading to a traffic stop on U.S. 301. He approached the two occupants, including 55-year-old Dawn Lynn Douglas and 51-year-old Brian Michael Eastman, as they lit cigarettes.
This is a common tactic of illicit narcotics users who are trying to deter police canines from finding narcotics. This, along with Douglas’s unusual talkativeness, made the officer suspicious of illegal activity. He then requested more units come to the scene so he could check for narcotics with a K-9, the report said.
A positive alert meant the officer could search the truck, which resulted in the discovery of a clear bulbous glass pipe between the front passenger seat and center console. There were also numerous Narcan canisters and torch lighters, the latter of which can be used to superheat methamphetamine and other narcotics into vapor, the report said.
Douglas later denied ownership or use of the pipe and Narcan. However, her proximity to the glass pipe led the officer to believe it was hers, the report said.
Additionally, Eastman, the driver, had a suspended license due to a controlled substance violation in July 2025 and a failure to pay in April 2022. He advised that he was driving due to Douglas having medical issues. She was unfit to drive herself, but he knew he should not have been behind the wheel, the report said.
Douglas was arrested on charge of drug equipment (possess or use) and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. She was released after posting $500 bond.
Eastman was charged with driving while license suspended. He was released from the detention center after posting $500 bond.