A 31-year-old Ocala man was arrested after a police officer observed him throwing a pill bottle containing cocaine over a fence during a traffic stop.
At around 11:30 pm on Friday, November 19, an officer of the Ocala Police Department stopped a man on a bicycle near the intersection of NW 1st Street and NW 21st Avenue in Ocala.
The man was later identified as Rashad Al Hassan. He was driving on the left side of the road and his bicycle was not equipped with any lights.
The OPD report pointed out that Hassan appeared to be nervous during traffic parking and kept touching his loose clothes. The police officer informed him that he would conduct a body search.
Hassan turned to leave the officer and began to walk away. The police officer ordered him to stop, but the order was ignored.
After reaching into his sweater pocket, someone saw Hassan throw an object onto the fence near Northwest 21st Street.
The officer knocked Hassan to the ground with a taser. When the police officer tried to fasten the handcuffs, Hassan tensed his arms and kept pulling away his right wrist.
The handcuffs were finally fastened, and a K-9 partner helped to find a dark plastic bag outside the fence, where Hassan was observed throwing things. There was an orange medicine bottle in the bag, which contained a white rock-like substance, which later tested positive for cocaine on the spot.
Hassan told the police officer that he was smoking marijuana and did not want to be caught. He claimed to throw a joint on the fence.
The OPD report stated that Hassan did not smell like marijuana, and that the items observed by the police were thrown over the fence and were too large to be a joint. When the police officer asked Hassan why he threw cocaine on the fence, he said, "You know what I'm thinking."
Hasan was arrested and sent to Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held with a deposit of US$5,500. He faces felony charges for possessing controlled substances and tampering with evidence.
According to prison records, the court date was set at 9 a.m. on December 21.