74 F
Ocala
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Marion sheriff’s deputies pop two men on drug charges after traffic stop

Johnny Shayne Simpson

Two men were jailed recently after fleeing from a vehicle following a traffic stop.

Marion County sheriff’s deputies were conducting a security check in the Turning Leaf Subdivision when they spotted a white Chevy pickup truck driving in a reckless manner. The deputies performed a traffic stop and all of the occupants fled from the vehicle, a sheriff’s office report states.

The deputies caught 23-year-old Johnny Shayne Simpson and 19-year-old Joelle Hanks and they were detained. Through the course of the investigation, an assortment of drugs were located on both men and they were placed under arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail.

Joelle Hanks

Simpson, of Ocala, was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and possession and/or use of drug equipment. His bond also was revoked on previous charges of driving while license suspended (habitual) and two counts of battery on an officer. He was being held on no bond for violating his parole on a previous domestic violence charge and $18,500 bond on the other charges and is due in court Oct. 20 at 9 a.m.

HanKs, of Marion Oaks, was charged with possession of marijuana not more than 20 grams and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was released on his own recognizance and is due in court Oct. 20 at 9 a.m.

Simpson also was arrested in June after a nasty argument with a lady friend over a Facebook post. In that incident, he was charged with domestic battery (second or subsequent offense) and violating his bond for a February arrest on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and battery on an EMS worker.