Marion County Sheriff’s deputies who responded Monday to a report of a gunshot wound ended up arresting an Ocklawaha woman who tried to hide a handgun at the request of the victim.
Rebekah Ruth Simmons, 31, of 6450 SE 180th Ave. Road, was charged with tampering with evidence, resisting an officer without violence, possession of methamphetamine, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The male victim was being treated and being prepared for transport by medical personnel as a deputy arrived at the home on SE 193rd Avenue in Ocklawaha. Once the victim was placed in the ambulance, the deputy saw Simmons go back inside the residence.
A detective told Simmons to remove herself from the active crime scene and she emerged from the home with a backpack. She said it was her personal property and she wasn’t going to leave it behind. The deputy told Simmons to put down the bag and leave the crime scene, but she refused all orders and had to be physically removed, a sheriff’s office report states.
A search of the bag uncovered substances that later field tested positive for methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as drug paraphernalia, the report says.
When interviewed about the shooting, Simmons first said the victim already had a gunshot wound to his leg when he came to the door. She said she had no idea where the gun was and said she had never observed a gun in the residence, the report says.
Simmons then changed her story and said the gun had been inside the residence but she didn’t know where it was. Finally, she said she had taken the gun out behind the residence – at the request of the victim – and hit it under some garbage bags, the report says, adding that the gun was recovered.
Simmons was taken to the Marion County Jail, where she was released early Wednesday on $3,500 bond. Her next date in Marion County Court is set for April 9.