https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/ ... 11286.htmlHe told Florida Keys deputy he was ‘riding dirty.’ He’s in jail on heroin charges.
A Florida City man remains in Monroe County jail Tuesday night after deputies say they found more than 40 small bags of heroin inside his car earlier that morning.
Darius Elija Whitehead, 39, whose criminal history in the Keys — mostly on drug charges — goes back to the late 1990s, is being held on a total bond of $120,000.
Deputy Joel Torres wrote in his report that he pulled Whitehead over shortly before 1 a.m. because he followed the Lincoln Town Car and observed the vehicle swerving as it headed northbound on U.S. 1.
Whitehead stopped for Torres in the parking lot of Sundowners, a restaurant on the bay side of U.S. 1 in Key Largo at mile marker 103.9.
When Torres asked for his license, he told him it was suspended. Torres checked state records and discovered that Whitehead’s license was revoked in 2013. He had two previous convictions for driving with a suspended license, Torres said.
Torres cuffed Whitehead and prepared to search his car, along with another deputy. Before he did, Whitehead informed him that he was “riding dirty,” meaning he had drugs in the car.
Deputies found 42 one-inch-by-one-inch bags of what turned out to be heroin inside the car, according to the arrest report.
It had a total weight of 7.5 grams, said Adam Linhardt, sheriff’s office spokesman.
Deputies also found two tablets that turned out to be less than a gram of cocaine, Linhardt said.
Whitehead faces charges of heroin possession with intent to sell, heroin trafficking, cocaine possession and driving with a suspended license.
Florida City is 662 miles from Niceville