The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man after a traffic stop led deputies to the discovery of cocaine, oxycodone, and marijuana in his car. Just before 1:00 a.m. on Monday. deputies driving southbound on I-75 near the Jacaranda Boulevard exit in Venice, observed a vehicle driving erratically and nearly crashing into another driver. When deputies ran the license plate, it came back to 30-year-old Howard Russell, with an active warrant out of Sumter County. A traffic stop was conducted and after deputies noticed the smell of burnt marijuana, a subsequent search of Russell’s car yielded more than 50 grams of the drug in addition to 11 oxycodone pills, nearly 4 grams of cocaine, and several small baggies often used to distribute drugs. Russell was arrested and faces multiple drug-related charges.
