A 24-year-old Ocala woman was arrested after cocaine and marijuana were discovered inside her vehicle during a traffic stop.
On Tuesday, February 15, an Ocala Police Department officer received a license plate reader alert from SW 27th Avenue and W Silver Springs Boulevard. The alert advised that the registered owner of the vehicle had a suspended driver’s license.
The officer located the vehicle traveling eastbound near the 1800 block of W Silver Springs Boulevard. The vehicle turned south onto SW Martin Luther King Avenue and then turned west onto SW Fort King Street.
The officer activated the patrol car’s emergency lights and conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle near the 1900 block of SW Fort King Street.
The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was identified as Courtney-Ann Drew Ledgister.
Ledgister told the officer that her license was suspended a few weeks earlier due to a traffic accident, and she was unable to provide proof that she took the required traffic course.
According to the OPD report, the officer detected a strong odor of marijuana from inside the vehicle. The officer asked Ledgister to step outside the vehicle while it was searched.
The officer located several rolled joints on the floorboard. Inside the center console, the officer found small amounts of a green leafy substance. A glass pipe was also spotted in the driver’s side rear door.
When the officer walked to the trunk of the vehicle to open it, Ledgister approached the officer and said, “You can’t go in there.”
Ledgister was detained and the trunk was opened. Inside the trunk, the officer located two large Ziploc bags that were filled with a large quantity of a green leafy substance. A plastic bag was found that contained numerous white rock-like substances, and a large glass mason jar was located that held five Ziploc bags which were filled with a green leafy substance.
A small black scale with a clear top was also found inside the trunk, and a green substance was observed on top of the scale.
The green leafy substance field-tested positive for marijuana and the white rock-like substance field-tested positive for cocaine.
Ledgister agreed to speak with the officer. She admitted that the marijuana belonged to her. She denied any knowledge of the cocaine that was discovered and she stated that the glass pipe was not hers.
Ledgister claimed that one of her boyfriend’s friends had used the vehicle the previous night. She was unable to provide the name of this friend and stated that the individual had given her $40 to use the vehicle.
The OPD report indicated that the total weight of the marijuana was nearly 260 grams and the cocaine weighed 27 grams.
Ledgister was arrested, transported to Marion County Jail, and she was later released on $9,000 bond. She is facing felony charges for cocaine and marijuana possession with the intent to sell along with misdemeanor charges for possession of drug paraphernalia and driving with a suspended license.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.