A passenger in a van that was involved in a high-speed pursuit in connection with an alleged kidnapping ended up behind bars on a drug charge last week.
Nathan Edward Manypenny, 34, of Ocala, was among four people in the van, which was believed to have been driven by 31-year-old Randall Albert Martineau, also of Ocala. He was arrested and charged with fleeing/eluding law enforcement officers at a high speed and knowingly driving with a suspended or revoked license.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy searched Manypenny after he was removed from the van, which had been traveling south on Hwy. 326 before it jumped a set of railroad tracks and barely avoided being hit by an oncoming train. During the search, the deputy discovered an orange prescription pill bottle in Manypenny’s back pocket. The bottle contained 29 tan oval pills with the numbers 20 on one side and 1010 on the other. They were determined to be 20mg Citalopram Hydrobromide pills and were not a controlled substance, a sheriff’s office report states.
After being read his rights, Manypenny admitted to being inside the vehicle and having the bottle of pills in his back pocket. He also admitted that he didn’t have a prescription for the pills, the report says.
Manypenny, who lives at 1315 NE 23rd St. in Ocala, was transported to the Marion County Jail early Tuesday morning and charged with possession of a harmful new legend drug without a prescription. He was released Thursday on his own recognizance and is due to appear in court on July 17 at 1 p.m. to answer to the charge.
Manypenny is no stranger to the Marion County legal system, having been held in the jail 25 times since March 2003. During those arrests he’s faced a litany of charges that include:
- Possession of drug paraphernalia;
- Battery;
- Obstruction without violence;
- Resisting arrest without violence;
- Disorderly conduct;
- Domestic battery;
- Simple battery;
- Contempt of court for failure to pay child support;
- Failure to appear in court for a change of plea;
- Unarmed burglary of an unoccupied dwelling;
- Open lodging;
- Open container;
- Failure to pay child support;
- Trespassing on school grounds;
- Criminal mischief more than $1,000;
- Driving while license suspended or revoked;
- Grand theft auto;
- Contempt of court; and
- Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.