Four people were arrested Thursday night after officers found an assortment of drugs and needles inside a pickup truck during a routine traffic stop.
According to a Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team report, a detective with the Ocala Police Department spotted a blue Chevrolet truck with no tail or brake lights pulling a trailer as it traveled west in the 1700 block of NW 2nd Street around 7 p.m. The detective followed the truck and stopped it in the 1700 block of State Road 40 a short time later.
A K-9 officer was called to the scene and after his dog alerted on the vehicle, an officer with UDEST was called.
The four people in the truck were the vehicle’s owner, James Anthony Drain, front-seat passenger Alyssa Regina Ellis, right rear passenger James Lee Gavin and center rear passenger Angela Marie Evanoski.
A search of the truck revealed a sock on top of the center console that contained two bags of more than 14 grams of MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy), a bag of crack cocaine, a bag containing methamphetamine and a bag containing bindles of heroin/fentanyl powder, the report says.
In addition, officers found two crack cocaine rocks located in a cigarette pack, multiple hypodermic needles (used and unused) and copper wool (commonly used as a filter for smoking crack cocaine) inside a pink purse that was located in the right-front passenger compartment.
A black-and-white polka-dot bag also was found in the back seat that contained a small bag of methamphetamine, a hypodermic needle, two water bottle caps that appeared to be used to process heroin for injection and a bag containing multiple smaller baggies that appeared to be used to package drugs, the police report says.
After being transported to the Ocala Police Department, Drain, 51, told officers that “he would take the charge for the drugs so not everyone would have to be arrested.” Ellis, 30, said the purse containing the needles was hers. She said that she smokes cigarettes but didn’t currently have any and didn’t have any knowledge of the cigarette pack containing crack cocaine that was found inside her purse, the report says.
Evanoski, 37, initially identified herself as Kimberly Obrien. After giving her real name, she was found to have active warrants in Citrus County.
Gavin, 48, denied knowing about the drugs but said his cell phone was sitting on top of the center console being charged when they were stopped.
Both Evanoski and Ellis admitted to using drugs, the report says. Evanoski said that she used heroin intravenously and Ellis appeared to have fresh marks from intravenous drug use on her arms, the report adds.
All four occupants of the truck were transported to the Marion County Jail. Each was charged with trafficking MDMA, possession of heroin/fentanyl, possession of methamphetamine, possession of crack cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
They each were held on $41,000 bond. Evanoski also was charged with giving a false name to a law enforcement officer, which added $500 to her bond.
Drain, Ellis and Gavin are all from Ocala, while Evanoski listed a Crystal River address. Both Gavin and Evanoski already have open criminal court cases. Gavin is facing charge of driving while his license is revoked (habitual offender), while Evanoski is facing charges of possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
UDEST is an initiative of the North Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. It is comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement from the Ocala Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security.