[PHOTO CREDIT: Amazon.com]
[Original Publish Date: 01/08/20]
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CLERMONT, Florida — A Cocoa Puffs box and a hollowed-out can of cleaner were not enough to fool law enforcement officers who served a search warrant on a Clermont home Tuesday.
Detectives with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit and members of The Mid Florida SWAT Team served a search warrant at 336 Chestnut Street, Clermont, near downtown, Tuesday morning. The Mid Florida SWAT Team is comprised of law enforcement officers from LCSO and Clermont, Leesburg, Mount Dora and Groveland police departments, said LCSO Sgt. Fred Jones.
Two men exited the home, and Christopher Medina, 28, told an LCSO detective all the cocaine in the residence was his, but a black safe in an extra bedroom was not his. Lake Legal News is not naming the other man because he was not charged.
Detectives searched the home and found 16 grams of cocaine in a kitchen cabinet and 44 grams of cocaine in a Cocoa Puffs box; a third bag was found next to a piece a mail with Medina’s name on it, according to the arrest affidavit. In Medina’s bathroom, a detective found a hollowed out can of cleaner under the sink containing multiple bags of cocaine and two bags of cocaine were found in the toilet, the affidavit states.
Detectives found the safe Medina claimed was not his in the front bedroom of the home. In the safe, detectives found two 9mm handguns and several pieces of mail addressed to Medina. An additional bag of cocaine was found on a living room table.
Medina, who has been booked into the Lake County Jail 11 times since 2011, was charged with trafficking in more than 28 grams of cocaine, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of drug equipment and tampering with evidence. He was released on $66,000 bond.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
