A Dunnellon man was arrested recently on multiple charges after a Marion County sheriff’s deputy discovered the wrong license tag was on his vehicle.
The deputy followed a black Nissan north on S.W. 90th Avenue and saw the vehicle make an abrupt stop in the roadway. The driver, later identified as 37-year-old Charles Robert Hoefsmit, exited the vehicle and his wife came out of a nearby residence to meet him. She grabbed a few items from the rear of the vehicle and walked back into the driveway as Hoefsmit got back behind the wheel and put the Nissan in reverse, a sheriff’s office report states.
The deputy checked the vehicle’s tag and discovered that it belonged to a red Acura sedan. He then activated his emergency lights and performed a traffic stop in the 15400 block of S.W. 90th Avenue, the report says.
Hoefsmit told the deputy that his license was suspended because he hadn’t paid his vehicle insurance bill. The deputy confirmed that Hoefsmit’s license had been suspended on June 29, 2020 for failing to pay a financial obligation and it was still active, the report says, adding that the vehicle also wasn’t registered.
While standing outside Hoefsmit’s vehicle, the deputy reported seeing a black grinder and a small glass jar containing a green leafy substance on the center console. He completed a search of the vehicle and located two small glass jars and a black grinder in the middle console that contained a small amount of a green leafy substance. The deputy also reported finding a blue-and-orange glass pipe in the driver’s-side door pocket and a small blue glass pipe in the glove box, as well as three small bags with residue of a clear crystal substance in an open box on the front passenger seat, according to the report.
The deputy told Hoefsmit he was going to search him and he handed over a small empty clear bag. Hoefsmit also reached into his pocket and tossed a small clear bag that contained a clear crystal substance on the ground, the report says, adding that a small bag containing a clear crystal substance and a green glass pipe were found inside a cigarette pack.
All of the green leafy substances field-tested positive for THC content, while the clear crystal substances tested positive for methamphetamine. Hoefsmit was then placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with possession of controlled substances without prescriptions, driving with license suspended or revoked, no motor vehicle registration and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on $4,000 bond and is due in court May 25 at 9 a.m., jail records show.