[PHOTO CREDIT: iStock / Feverpitched]
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[Original Publish Date: 10/09/19]
LEESBURG, Florida – A woman emerged from a Big Lots area dumpster Tuesday to find Leesburg police waiting for her after her baby stroller gave her away.
According to the arresting officer, “As the property manager walked up to the dumpster I heard a noise from inside. I looked inside but did not see anything or anyone. I announced myself and requested anyone in the dumpster to show themselves and exit.” It was then that Crystal Gail Conner, 42, stood up and came in to view. The affidavit states Conner began to cry “and questioned me as to whether or not she was being arrested because she was [previously] trespassed.”
Conner’s routine, according to to the report, was to use a baby stroller to collect and transport dumpster-finds for sale at a flea market. (At one point the property manager had thrown the stroller into the dumpster – only to find Conner had removed it and reloaded it with trash.)
Upon her arrest, Conner was found to possess syringes, cotton balls, a latex tourniquet, plastic straws and a broken metal spoon – both items with a white powder residue – and cigarette filters with suspected methamphetamine. “The defendant’s stroller and items inside were turned over to a friend after being searched for illegal narcotics,” the affidavit states. Conner was taken to jail on charges of trespass after warning, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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James Hope is a Florida Bar Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer who has been practicing criminal law in Tavares, Florida, since 1987. He has also been the Publisher and Executive Editor of Lake Legal News since 2009. He may be contacted at LakeLegalNews@gmail.com, or through his website at www.AttorneyJamesHope.com. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
