A Villager was arrested after a K-9 alerted on his golf cart early Monday morning during a traffic stop in the Village of De La Vista North.
William John Verticelli, 63, of the Village of Palo Alto, had been driving a golf cart without headlights at about 1 a.m. in the 600 block of San Marino Drive when he was stopped by a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy.
Verticelli had a “crackly” voice and avoided making eye contact with the deputy. A K-9 unit was summoned to the scene and the dog alerted on the golf cart, indicating the likely presence of drugs.
Verticelli kept putting his hands in his pockets, despite the deputy’s orders against it. During a patdown for weapons, a pack of Marlboro cigarettes was found in the pocket of Verticelli’s shorts.Two small baggies containing methamphetamine were found in the cigarette pack.
He was arrested on a felony charge of drug possession and booked on $4,000 bond at the Sumter County Detention Center.
In 2015, deputies were forced to taser Verticelli at the Palo Alto postal station. He was found to be in possession of methamphetamine.
