A Port St. Lucie man was arrested for fentanyl after an officer stopped him on a bicycle after he had just left a known narcotic residence.
An officer observed 65-year-old Ronald Bertram Woods riding a bicycle on Harlem Street at 3 p.m. Monday, according to an arrest record from the Leesburg Police Department. He then took a left southbound turn onto Tuskegee Street without stopping at the stop sign. He was also on the wrong side of the road, driving against traffic.
The officer made a traffic stop near 2110 Mara Ct. and asked Woods if he had any contraband on his person after observing him leave a known narcotics residence on Harlem Avenue. Woods stated that he had a crack pipe on his person. The officer searched him and found a pipe with dark burn marks in his left pocket, according to the report.
A later examination of the area around the tree yielded a small zip-style baggie on the ground. Despite the dirt and leaves around it, it appeared to have been planted recently. It had also just rained, so numerous rocks around the baggie were damp despite being dry. A big puddle of water was also found a few feet from the dry baggie, according to the report.
The baggie contained a white rock-like material that tested positive for fentanyl and weighed one gram. Woods said the baggie wasn’t his, but the report says he was alone when the officer arrived and evidence shows it was placed there.
Woods was arrested on allegations of possessing fentanyl and drug paraphernalia. He was taken to the Lake County Jail and freed after posting a $3,500 bond.
He was also arrested in September 2023 after being tased for attempted shoplifting and in August 2021 for allegedly taking wings and a corn dog from Walmart.