Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/341318
Mario Smith/Contributed photo Late on the night of July 1, the release notes, deputies conducted a traffic stop on a green Hyundai and subsequently arrested Mario Smith, 33, of 4024 Fleet Lane, Sarasota, for Possession of Narcotic Equipment. During a search of the vehicle, deputies also found clothing exactly as described by the clerk, the release says. Deputies contacted the detective on the case and brought Smith in for questioning. Smith admitted that he was at the Dollar General but denied trying to rob the store, the release continues. He is also charged with Attempted Robbery and his vehicle was seized. Smith has an extensive arrest history that includes charges of Domestic Battery, drug sales and possession, Larceny and Criminal Mischief, the release adds. On June 29, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office issued multiple traffic citations to an Ellenton man who not only failed to slow down or move over for law enforcement offi- cers on Interstate 75 but who also clipped the door of a patrol vehicle, just as a deputy was exiting it, and then kept driving, the office has reported. Deputy Chris Butler was making a traffic stop on northbound I-75 just south of Clark Road for a "move over" violation when a 2000 Cadillac hit the driver's side door of his SUV as Clark opened it, a news release says. The driver of the Cadillac, 77-year-old Robert Best, who failed to stop after the crash, was pulled over a short time later by another traf- fic deputy, the release notes. Best said he was not aware that he had hit anything or that 77-YEAR-OLD DRIVER CHARGED AFTER HITTING DEPUTY'S VEHICLE Damage to a Cadillac that struck a deputy's vehicle is evident in a photo taken by Sheriff's Office personnel. Contributed photo Sarasota News Leader July 4, 2014 Page 106