A speeding driver blamed his wife for drugs and paraphernalia that were found in his vehicle during a traffic stop.
Devon Garrett Berlind, 30, of Lady Lake, had been driving early Friday morning on Grays Airport Road when he was caught on radar traveling 67 miles per hour in 45 mph zone, according to an arrest report from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
A K-9 unit was summoned to the scene and the dog alerted on the vehicle. A search turned up two glass smoking pipes and a cake-like substance determined to be crack cocaine.
Berlind insisted the drugs and paraphernalia were not his, but instead belonged to his wife. He said his wife “suffers from drug addiction” and he has “never used crack, nor is it his drug of choice.”
Berlind, who was released in 2019 from the Florida Department of Corrections on charges of fleeing law enforcement, was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was ticketed for speeding and for not having proof of insurance. He was booked at the Lake County Jail and released after posting $3,000 bond.
His vehicle was towed from the scene.
