Released by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office …
WASHINGTON COUNTY, FL – Two recent unrelated, late night, traffic stops led to the arrest of three individuals after drugs were located in the vehicles with children present.
On May 14th, a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a vehicle entering the Ebro Dog Track parking lot after witnessing it nearly hit two other vehicles on State Road 79.
During the stop, the driver of the vehicle, 30-year-old Joshua Earnest of Freeport, told deputies he had just purchased the truck from a friend and when cleaning it out, earlier in the day, located a bag with illegal items in it.
When the deputy asked for clarification, Earnest stated the bag his friend left behind contained a meth pipe and a small bag of methamphetamine.
A search of the vehicle resulted in deputies locating the bag, which Earnest then admitted belonged to him.
Earnest was booked into the Washington County Jail on the charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Tuesday, May 20th , a WCSO deputy stopped a vehicle on U.S. 20, subsequently arresting both occupants after multiple ecstasy pills were located during a search of the vehicle, along with a straw and glass pipe, which tested positive for methamphetamine.
32-year-old Tiffany Martinez of Freeport and 29-year-old Damian Coatney were taken into custody and transported to the Washington County Jail.
After arriving at the jail, deputies located a vial containing methamphetamine that Martinez admitted to attempting to hide in the backseat of the patrol vehicle.
Martinez was booked on the charges of possession of ecstasy, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and tampering with evidence.
Coatney was booked on a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license.
The Department of Children and Families was contacted to take possession of the small child in the vehicle.
“Drug use in the least is dangerous, if not deadly to the abuser,” says Sheriff Kevin Crews. “But knowing that the majority of these cases have children involved, directly or indirectly, is beyond heartbreaking. Some will claim this is a victimless crime, however we see it differently daily. Children are being abused, neglected, and put in danger because of the drug use around them. We are not going to tolerate this in Washington County.”
