[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 11/05/20]
EUSTIS, Florida — Falling asleep at a gas pump resulted in a drug trafficking arrest for an Altoona man early Thursday morning, according to an arrest affidavit.
Lake County Sheriff’s deputies responded to Circle K, 24425 State Road 44, Eustis just after 2 a.m. Thursday on a report of a suspicious person. A store employee told a deputy a silver Dodge truck had been sitting at the eastern gas pumps since 11 p.m. — over three hours.
LCSO found a man, later identified at Garrett Edward Buttner, 27, asleep in the driver’s seat, an uncapped syringe sitting on the console next to pieces of cotton and a scale on the dashboard, according to the affidavit. A deputy tapped on the window and woke Buttner up; he immediately opened the door, and the deputy spotted several capped syringes in the door and white powder on the steering wheel.
Buttner, of Altoona, was detained and upon searching the truck, LCSO found 17.2 grams of methamphetamine in the center console and a small bag of an unknown substance, weighing 8.2 grams in a storage area; that substance will be sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing, the affidavit states.
Buttner was arrested for trafficking in methamphetamine and taken to the Lake County Jail, where he is being held on $25,000 bond. According to LCSO online jail records, this is the 10th time Buttner has been booked into LCJ.
_______________________________
Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
