A man got pulled over in Florida. Then something landed under the patrol car, deputies say
A routine traffic stop quickly turned into a drug bust in central Florida.
According to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, deputies teamed up with the Narcotics Task Force for the arrest Thursday night in DeLand, Florida, which is roughly 30 miles north of Orlando. It’s not clear exactly what time the incident occurred.
A VCSO Facebook post says John Schneider had purchased half a pound of methamphetamine in another county to sell out of a home in nearby Orange City, but got pulled over for an unrelated matter before he could get there.
Bodycam footage shows deputies approaching the 49-year-old suspect and his girlfriend, Lee Sanberg, also 49, who says she is the registered owner of the car.
In the video, you can see deputies were about to give them a written warning, before things escalated. As one officer pats down the suspect for weapons, an object lands on the ground.
“He just dropped a bag,” says a deputy. “It looks like dope.”
Sanberg then can be heard expressing disappointment: “Aw, man!” she says.
Schneider mumbles something unintelligible about the drugs not being his, but the deputy interrupts.
“I can tell it came from you,” says the law enforcement officer. “It’s on the freakin’ camera. You might as well try to lie. You ain’t got nothing to lose.”
The search for drugs on the suspect’s person continues.
“Anything else shoved up on ya?” asks the officer. “We’re going to check that, but based on my training and experience ... I can already tell what it is. Walk this way.”
An additional gram of meth was found in Schneider’s right sock; a picture of the drugs being weighed on a scale is included in the post.
The Florida man was charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, tampering with evidence and resisting without violence and held on $511,000 bond. Sanberg was charged with conspiracy to traffic in methamphetamine, and held on a slightly lower bond of $500,000.
