An Ocala man was caught driving without a valid driver’s license Sunday afternoon for the 13th time in 26 years.
Leroy Kenneth Johnson Jr., 58, told an Ocala Police officer that he was driving his 1997 white GMC box truck on S Pine Avenue when he was involved in a traffic crash. The officer checked Johnson’s driving background and discovered that his license had been suspended on July 25 for failure to pay a traffic fine, an Ocala Police report states.
A query showed that Johnson’s 11 previous convictions for driving with a suspended or revoked license came on May 13, 1992; April 21, 1993; March 31, 1993; Dec. 6, 1993; Jan. 10, 1994; March 11, 1994; Nov. 23, 2004; Dec. 28, 2006; Oct. 25, 2007; March 21, 2008 and Feb. 20, 2009. A computer check also showed that the notice of his current suspension was sent to Johnson’s registered address, where he confirmed he has lived at “all of his life.”
After Johnson, who has been in the Marion County Jail 26 times since November 1990, was arrested for driving while his license was suspended or revoked (third or subsequent offense), deputies found a small baggie containing a green and brown leafy substance in his right front pocket and a small green pipe in the left pocket of his cargo shorts. Both tested positive for K2 (synthetic cannabinoids), the report says.
Johnson, who confirmed that the green and brown leafy substance was K2 and said he uses the pipe to smoke the drug, was transported to the Marion County Jail, where he also was charged with possession of synthetic cannabinoids and drug paraphernalia. He was released Sunday night shortly after 10 p.m. on $5,000 bond.
