Seminole County sheriff’s deputies found more than they bargained for Thursday after a stolen vehicle led them to a cache of drugs and the discovery of an illegal pet alligator at a Lake Mary home.
Just after midnight on Thursday, a deputy on patrol ran a check of a car’s tags and found the vehicle was reported stolen. He identified the driver as a 17-year-old boy.
He followed the car to a house on the 400 block of South Winsome Court, and watched as the house’s residents moved objects around in the garage to accommodate the car, according to an arrest report. The deputy saw two men try to leave the house in another car and blocked the car from leaving.
Deputies handcuffed the driver of that car, Talton Posley, 38, and passenger Arkeem White, 26. They searched the car and found two guns and a black backpack containing 80 grams of heroin, an MDMA pill and just under 5 grams of cocaine, the report said.
Meanwhile, 40-year-old Kristin Posley ran out of the house and began yelling in a deputy’s face, the report said.
The City County Investigation Bureau searched the house and found, among other things, an alligator hatchling being kept as a pet, Sheriff Dennis Lemma said during a county briefing Friday.
“[The search] brought in large amounts of cash, about $200,000 street value of drugs, additional firearms and ammunition, and we actually partnered with the Florida Wildlife Commission, because there was a pet alligator being stored in the home,” he said.
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said any charges related to the possession of the alligator would come from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Talton Posley was arrested on charges of armed trafficking of cocaine and heroin, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, resisting an officer, possession of drug equipment and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
Arkeem White faces charges of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
The minor, who the Sentinel is not naming because of his age, faces one charge of grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Kristen Posley faces one charge of resisting an officer.
White and Talton Posley are being held at the Seminole County Jail without bond.
“The message out there is anybody that feels like this is an opportunity for them to go out there and commit crime is mistaken,” Lemma said. “We will hold you to the fullest extent of the law, we will make sure that you’re held accountable and let’s pull our community together to do the right thing.”
krice@orlandosentinel.com
