TAVARES, Fla. – Isn't it ironic to be arrested at a law enforcement training center parking lot and accused of marijuana possession? A little too ironic? Don't you think?
That's what happened Saturday at the Lake Tech's Institute of Public Safety in Tavares when a Lake County sheriff's deputy said he smelled "the odor of burning marijuana" in the parking lot of the facility where law enforcement and firefighters receive training.
The deputy followed his nose 15 yards away where he said Ryan O'Day was sitting in a Ford F-150, according to the arrest report.
The deputy said he told O'Day that he was "in the parking lot of the police training academy smoking weed." O'Day said he would put it out, according to the report, and was then given the opportunity to turn over an illegal substances, but declined.
Deputies found a small jar of marijuana, a small bag of pot, smoking papers and a scale, according to the report.
O'Day was charged with possession of marijuana less than 20 grams and possession of paraphernalia. He was booked into the Lake County Jail.