By Matt Wiley | August 28
A Tampa Palms man has been arrested with a car full of narcotics following a single-vehicle crash on S.R. 54, just east of Wesley Chapel, in Land O’ Lakes.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) report, just before 10 a.m. on August 28, Jeremy Earle Grove, 23, of 16228 Saint Michelle Ct. (in the Promenade at Tampa Palms apartment complex), was discovered with several packages containing prescription drugs and controlled substances after flipping his Toyota Scion on S.R. 54, east of Hailey Ln., in Land O’ Lakes.
Witnesses described Grove’s driving leading up to the crash as erratic, stating that he was driving at a high rate of speed, cutting off other vehicles, following too closely and was unable to stay in his lane, before veering off the road and flipping his vehicle.
FHP reports that following the arrival and departure of an ambulance (which the uninjured Grove did not need), he returned to his vehicle to remove Manila envelopes from his car, telling witnesses that they were for his work, “Kangaroo Companies,” and were very expensive and could not get wet.
When FHP troopers arrived and asked Grove for his license and registration, he replied that he did not have a Florida driver’s license and that his only license was from Washington state, which currently is suspended. Grove had an active Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) warrant for his arrest due to previously having been caught driving with the suspended license.
Once in cuffs, FHP says, troopers began taking an inventory of his vehicle before it was towed, when the envelopes full of narcotics were discovered. During the investigation, Grove attempted to escape his handcuffs to no success. At our press time, he was still in custody at the Land O’ Lakes Detention Center
Inside the five separate, stamped envelopes with addresses across the U.S. were 14 Hydrocodone pills (a first-degree felony), 8 Xanax pills (a third-degree felony) and an undisclosed amount of Ecstasy (also a third-degree felony). Grove has been charged with one count each of driving without a valid driver’s license, driving with a suspended license, driving with a license suspended for more than four months and reckless driving with property damage.
In addition, he has been charged with five counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, four counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, three counts of possession of drugs with the intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, one count of trafficking in controlled substances, as well as one count of owning a vehicle used in the crime of trafficking a controlled substance.
Grove is being held on a $188,500 bond. FHP sought high bonds due to possible federal charges with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and the U.S. Postal Service.
No additional information was available at our press time.
No comment yet, add your voice below!