After making a drug arrest in Groveland Friday night, Lake County detectives stumbled on something they hadn’t expected: Rattlesnakes.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office special investigations unit had a warrant to search a home in the 10500 block of Bay Lake Road as part of a drug investigation and detectives were watching the home when they saw two men leave the house in a white truck about 9:30 p.m.
When the detectives stopped the men, they determined that the driver, Hannice Jeffery Simmons Jr., 41, was actively smoking methamphetamine from a glass pipe. Simmons, a convicted felon, also was sitting on a loaded .380 handgun, according to the sheriff’s office.
Detectives arrested Simmons and the other man, 40-year-old Carl Brian Castle, on charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
When the detectives searched the home, they found more methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. They also discovered three rattlesnakes in an aquarium, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is expected to charge Castle, who owns the home, in connection with possession of the snakes. State law requires people who want to own venomous reptiles to obtain a permit.
Detectives also expect to obtain arrest warrants for methamphetamine possession for two other people who live in Castle’s home, according to the sheriff’s office.