Around 3 a.m. the morning of August 27th, deputies observed a silver Mercedes sedan speeding in the area of Shore Drive and Charlotte Street in Punta Gorda. The driver, identified as Justin Michael O’Neil, refused to acknowledge deputies. During the search of the vehicle, O’Neil was found to be in possession of a drug-filled backpack including 376.8 grams of Methamphetamine. O’Neil faces 7 charges and received a traffic warning for speeding.
When deputies activated their emergency lights to conduct the traffic stop, the driver was frantic and quickly put the vehicle in drive attempting to flee. Due to the layout of the property, with homes and structures being so close together and positioned next to the wood line, the driver, identified as Justin M. O’Neil (03-24-86) could not maneuver the vehicle out of the way of deputies.
Deputies approached and requested O’Neil to exit the vehicle as the vehicle was still in drive. O’Neil was informed he was pulled over for speeding and asked to provide his identification. O’Neil refused to speak or acknowledge the presence of deputies. He was once again asked for his identification and again refused.
A free air sniff was conducted on the vehicle by K9 Lady Bird with positive response for narcotics. During a search of the vehicle, deputies located a black and white Nike backpack. Inside the smaller portion of the backpack, deputies located 10.7 grams of Methamphetamine inside a plastic baggie.
