Sarasota Police Department officers find multiple items in black safe after traffic stop
A 35-year-old Sunrise man has been charged with three felony counts related to the alleged trafficking of fentanyl and possession of controlled substances, the Sarasota Police Department has reported.
Joshua Andrew Davis, of 2741 N. Pine Island Drive in Sunrise, is being held without bond in the Sarasota County Jail, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office Corrections Division record shows. His arraignment has been scheduled for Oct. 17, the document says.
A Sept. 26 order for pretrial detention, signed by 12th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Dana Moss, enumerates multiple reasons for keeping Davis in jail, The Sarasota News Leader found. Among them, it noted the “extreme danger” to the community that Davis’ release would pose, as he allegedly possessed more than 89 grams of fentanyl when he was taken into custody. The order added that, during his arrest in late August, he was on release under a $3,000 bond for possessing a controlled substance and paraphernalia in another case.
The document that Moss signed listed a number of prior charges against Davis, including obtaining property by fraud in 2023; possession of a controlled substance and paraphernalia in 2022; a domestic battery charge in 2024; and a 2013 disorderly conduct case that entailed intoxication “and misuse of 911 System.”
Further, the document reported that Davis “[l]ives in Fort Lauderdale; travels to St. Pete to purchase drugs and guns; separated from wife; born in Florida; family in Florida.” It also said that he had failed to appear in court for a prior hearing.
Additionally, the document noted that Davis receives $4,300 a month from the U.S. Veterans Administration for a disability, but he has only about “$2,500 in bills per month.” It said that he was a member of the Army who had served in Iraq.
The Probable Cause Affidavit for the latest charges explains that a pair of Sarasota Police Department officers stopped a gold Volvo just after 3 p.m. on Aug. 20 for failing to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Adams Lane and East Avenue in downtown Sarasota. That location is close to the Police Department’s headquarters; it stands on Adams Lane.
When one of the officers spoke with the driver, Stacy Garrett, and Davis, who was a front seat passenger, the affidavit notes that Davis “appeared very nervous and his hands were visibly shaking.”
After Garrett produced her driver’s license for the officer, he asked whether she knew that it had been suspended as of July 7, the affidavit continues. She replied that “she believed it to be valid,” the affidavit says.
While the Police Department officers were conducting the traffic stop, the affidavit adds, a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene with a K9. Both Garrett and Davis were asked to exit the vehicle so the K9 could “conduct an open air sniff of the vehicle for the presence of narcotics,” the affidavit says.
The K9 “hit on the driver’s side of the vehicle, giving officers probable cause to search the vehicle for the presence of narcotics,” the affidavit notes. The search revealed the following in a black safe with a combination lock; the safe was found on the passenger seat, the affidavit adds:
- Six bags suspected to contain cocaine, weighing approximately 126.8 grams.
- One bag of Xanax weighing about 28 grams.
- One pill bottle containing both Xanax pills and oxycodone, weighing 13.3 grams.
- A plastic bag “containing small individual baggies.”
- A metal spoon with white residue.
- A pen containing a suspected THC capsule. Webmed.com explains that THC is “what makes you feel ‘high’ when you smoke marijuana or eat an edible.”
- Loose half of an oxycodone pill.
- A flashlight.
Further, the affidavit continues, the search uncovered a backpack containing a small bag of marijuana and a pipe; it was under the driver’s seat. Garrett later told investigators that the backpack was hers, explaining that she has a medical marijuana card, the affidavit says. However, the affidavit points out, the marijuana “was not in its proper packaging.” Moreover, the affidavit notes, a field test of the marijuana showed that it was positive for THC. Thus, officers issued Garrett a Notice to Appear in court on a count of Possession of Paraphernalia, and they issued her a civil citation for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and unknowingly driving with a suspended license. They also gave her a warning for running the stop sign, the affidavit points out.
After his arrest, the affidavit continues, Davis was transported to the Police Department Headquarters, where he was interviewed by narcotics detectives. He admitted to them that the black safe belonged to him, the affidavit adds.
Moreover, he told them that the suspected cocaine was fentanyl, the affidavit points out.
On Aug. 26, the News Leader learned from court records, Davis entered a plea of “Not Guilty” in the Aug. 20 incident and demanded a jury trial.
Then, on Sept. 18, a Police Department news release said, a “controlled substance analysis” confirmed that what officers had suspected to be cocaine was instead fentanyl, “with a total weight of 89.57 grams.”
An updated Probable Cause Affidavit for Davis notes that the testing found fentanyl in two of the six bags that officers thought were containers of cocaine.
Additional charges against Davis are pending, that release pointed out.
Charges in April
A News Leader review of the records maintained by Karen Rushing, Sarasota County clerk of the Circuit Court and county comptroller, and her staff found details of a case cited in Circuit Judge Moss’ order stipulating that Davis be held without bond on the latest charges.
On April 29, the related Probable Cause Affidavit said, Davis was charged with possessing methamphetamines and drug equipment.
The incident occurred just after 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of Dona Bay Drive and Bonito Avenue in Nokomis, the affidavit added.
A Sheriff’s Office deputy was behind a vehicle traveling south on Albee Farm Road, it said, when the vehicle “neared an active school zone.” The affidavit pointed out that the vehicle was maintaining sustained speeds from 52 to 48 mph in a posted 40 mph zone.”
Although the driver slowed to 25 mph as the vehicle entered the school zone, the affidavit continued, the deputy stopped the driver for the speeding violations.
After the deputy approached the vehicle from the passenger side and spoke with the driver, the affidavit continued, the driver reported that the vehicle was not insured.
While the deputy was conducting an investigation of the vehicle, the affidavit said, the deputy was able to see through the driver’s partially open window what the deputy “immediately recognized as methamphetamine sitting next to the gear selector and the defendant’s wallet.”
When the deputy conveyed that observation to Davis, the affidavit added, “The defendant immediately replied, ‘Oh s**t!”
The deputy proceeded “to test a minute portion of the suspected methamphetamine with an agency-provided reliable, presumptive drug test kit,” the affidavit said. “The test yielded a positive result for methamphetamine.”
The affidavit noted that the deputy found another 0.4 grams of suspected methamphetamine in the foam of the driver’s seat, and, in a driver’s door compartment, the deputy “recovered a silver metal spoon-like item.”
After the deputy read Davis his Miranda Warnings, the affidavit continued, Davis “admitted to using methamphetamine daily,” including that morning. “He also admitted both he and his girlfriend share the paraphernalia found in the driver’s door.”
However, the affidavit pointed out, Davis “denied having knowledge of the methamphetamine [in the vehicle]. This seemed improbable,” the deputy wrote, “because he immediately recognized the methamphetamine when I showed it to him …”
Court records show that, on Sept. 12, Davis pleaded guilty to one third-degree felony count of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription and one misdemeanor count of possession and/or use of drug equipment.
Davis was sentenced to a four-month jail term, which was to be followed by 24 months of probation, another document says. He was allowed to be released on the basis of the time that he had served in jail awaiting a court date, the document notes. Nonetheless, Davis was ordered to pay a total of $633 in fines and court costs.
Circuit Judge Donna Padar presided over that case, court records show.