A shaking Ocala man who was riding as a passenger in a vehicle with a burned-out headlight was busted on a drug charge early Wednesday morning.
An Ocala Police officer stopped the Pontiac van at the intersection of 19th Court and NW 4th Street, near Second Chance Community Park, and noticed the vehicle’s passenger was sitting forward in his seat, shaking and shifting. The officer requested a K-9 unit to perform an open-air sniff and the dog alerted on the vehicle, indicating the odor of narcotics, a police report states.
As the occupants were removed from the vehicle, the officer noticed a small plastic bag containing a white powdery substance had been left on the passenger seat where 35-year-old Andre Vicks had been sitting. The officer reached in the van to retrieve the bag and Vicks “immediately grabbed it and attempted to destroy it,” the report says.
The officer gave loud verbal commands for Vicks to drop the item and he eventually did – with assistance of other officers who had arrived as backup units. The white powder field tested positive for MDMA and Vicks was taken into custody and read his rights.
Vicks then claimed he was retrieving the white powder for a friend of his from work to trade for marijuana. He insisted that he didn’t know what the white powder was and claimed he picked it up but didn’t pay for it, the report says.
Vicks was transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with possession of MDMA and tampering with evidence. He was released Wednesday night on $2,000 bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set.