A Villages employee was found with drugs in a District Government-owned truck at Lake Sumter Landing.
Matthew Phillip Beaton, 30, of the Village of De La Vista, had been found sleeping Monday in a Villages Property Management truck by the Human Resources manager, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. She saw a syringe and bloody napkin fall from Beaton’s pocket as he got out of the truck. He fled on foot before deputies arrived. She put the syringe and bloody napkin on the hood of the vehicle and upon their arrival, gave deputies permission to search the truck.
Beaton returned to the scene.
“I have no idea what’s going on and don’t really know where I am at, I have been high for three days and haven’t slept,” he told a deputy.
Beaton confirmed the syringe and bloody napkin belonged to him.
“There’s coke in a pill bottle along with some needles in the truck. I’ll get them for you for your safety because I have Hepatitis C,” Beaton then told the deputy.
The substance in the pill bottle field tested positive for cocaine. Two more syringes and a metal spoon were found in the truck, as well as a prescription bottle of Quetiapine (generic for Seroquel.) The prescription was for someone else and not for Beaton.
Beaton was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of a drug without a prescription and possession of drug equipment.
He was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. Bond was set at $3,500. He was still behind bars as of Saturday morning.
Beaton had been employed in Villages Property Management for five months. He is no longer employed by the District Office.
