A Leesburg woman with an outstanding Sumter County warrant for driving with a suspended license was arrested at a Weirsdale mini-mart late Wednesday night.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy was called to the Circle K at 13873 SE Hwy. 42 shortly after 10 p.m. when officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission requested assistance. When the deputy arrived, he was told that the Circle K employees wanted 27-year-old Maria Keri Protiva and a man with her, Justin Hamilton, removed from the premises. A criminal background check already had revealed that Protiva had the active Sumter County warrant with a bond of $5,013, a sheriff’s office report states.
A small drug pipe and a cotton swab with methamphetamine on it were discovered in a vehicle at the Circle K was that was registered to Protiva. She told the deputy she hadn’t had the vehicle for about five days and she didn’t know who those items belonged to.
Protiva was taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where she was being held on the out-of-county warrant.
