A man and his gal pal traveling in a stolen vehicle found themselves behind bars recently in the Marion County Jail.
A deputy conducted a traffic stop on a Ford F-250 pickup truck in the 5500 block of S.E. Abshier Boulevard. The vehicle and the license plate had been reported stolen out of Seminole County, a sheriff’s office report states.
The deputy made contact with the vehicle’s occupants, 34-year-old Branden Neil Watson and 30-year-old Amanda Rae Paschen. Both were placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail.
Watson was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, larceny/petit theft and driving with a suspended or revoked license (subsequent offense). He was being held on $16,500 bond and is due in court Oct. 20 at 9 a.m.
Paschen was charged with possession of heroin, possession and/or use of drug equipment and violating her probation on an Alachua County warrant for grand theft. She was being held on no bond and her next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.