Traffic stop results in crack cocaine arrest

A routine traffic stop on a man driving erratically resulted in an arrest for possession of crack cocaine.
At 11:37 p.m. Oct. 1, a deputy saw a white Cadillac going north on Mariner Boulevard having a hard time staying in a single lane and cutting in front of a pickup truck.
The deputy activated his emergency lights and siren and the driver stopped at the intersection of Mariner Boulevard and Chalmers Street, nearly striking a concrete curb.
The driver, Eric Colon, 32, had bloodshot and watery eyes and mumbled speech, appeared slow and uncoordinated and looked drowsy, a sheriff's report said.
Colon told the deputy he could look inside his vehicle and added there was nothing illegal inside, the report said.
However, the deputy found a small, clear plastic bag containing crack cocaine. He also discovered an aluminum drink can with several holes punched in it with residue, consistent with crack cocaine paraphernalia.
Colon was arrested and transported to the Hernando County Jail, where he admitted the crack cocaine and can were his. Colon told a deputy a friend gave him the cocaine so he could try it and that he had smoked it about 90 minutes before driving.
Colon was arrested for possession of crack cocaine, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI, both misdemeanors.
He was held on $21,000 bond.