An Ocala woman was taken into custody for possessing drug paraphernalia after being stopped in an unregistered vehicle near ALDI.
An officer on patrol observed 44-year-old Trisha Marie Sallee driving an unusually fast 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV through the ALDI parking lot, located at 3915 E CR 466, at 8:55 p.m. Saturday, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
As he came into the parking lot, the vehicle performed a sharp U-turn toward the northern exit onto East County Road 466, which raised his suspicions. Vehicles did not frequently pull into a parking lot and rapidly exit. The officer also noticed another unit parked in the lot, which explained why the car fled, according to the report.
The officer remained vigilant as the car turned onto County Road 466 and failed to stop at a stop sign. He then performed a traffic stop on County Road 107, and Sallee apologized for running the stop sign. According to the complaint, she and the other person were actively smoking cigarettes at the time, which is a regular method used to prevent police K-9s from locating narcotics.
According to the report, the vehicle was so full of smoke that the officer had to order the two to extinguish their cigarettes. This made him more suspicious.
He then asked Sallee if she resided in Florida, and she said yes, but not permanently. She was supposedly deciding whether she wanted to officially relocate to Florida. She had recently obtained work, which violated the rule for non-residents to register a vehicle within 10 days of obtaining a job in the state, according to the report.
At that point, a K-9 team arrived on the scene and positively detected the stench of narcotics. A search of the vehicle revealed a small plastic baggie with methamphetamine traces and a little glass pipe in Sallee’s wallet. She denied owning both things, but acknowledged to consuming methamphetamine recently, according to the report.
Sallee was detained on allegations of drug equipment (possession or use) and violating the nonresident exemption from registration. She was booked into Sumter County Detention Center and released after paying a $1,150 bond.
She was also detained in April after she was seen sleeping in her car at a pool in The Villages.
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