Man accused of swallowing marijuana after traffic stop in Stuart

[User]

By MEGAN V. WINSLOW
megan.winslow@scripps.com
May 12, 2007
STUART — Lakendra Tyrell Warren's early morning marijuana meal was his last as a free man.

The 26-year-old Port St. Lucie man was arrested about 2:30 a.m. Thursday after police allege he tried to swallow five baggies of marijuana during a traffic stop. Warren, of the 2700 block of Melaleuca Boulevard, first attracted Stuart Police Officer Michael Rice's attention when he allegedly sped along U.S. 1, driving 95 mph in a 45 mph zone.

When Rice approached the 2006 blue Nissan, however, he noticed Warren looked a little "mush-mouthed," said Sgt. Marty Jacobson, police spokesman.

And he kept on chewing, according to a Stuart Police report.

On demand, Warren opened his mouth to show Rice the green, leafy substance inside, but closed it again and went back to chewing, according to the report.

"The defendant initially refused to spit out the contents and continued chewing willfully resisting my commands to spit out the substance," Rice wrote in his report.

After several minutes, Rice got Warren to spit out the clear bags. He recovered $3,000 in cash from the sport utility vehicle as well as a measuring scale caked in cannabis residue, according to the report.

Warren was arrested on felony charges of possession of marijuana with intent to sell and tampering with evidence and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest without violence, possession of drug paraphernalia and reckless driving. He left the Martin County Jail Thursday on a $17,250 bond.

TCPalm: Police & Legal News

[Dunlap]

2 felonies and 3 misdemeanors... 17k doesn't sound totally out there.