ECSO: Accused Shoplifter Charged With Smuggling Drugs Into Jail

December 19, 2017

A Molino man arrested for shoplifting a $30 item is now facing two felony charges for smuggling drugs into the Escambia County Jail.

Clinton Keith Edmonson was arrested by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office for retail petit theft after he allegedly took a knife priced at $29.88 from Walmart on Pensacola Boulevard.  Edmonson was asked twice by the arresting deputy if he had anything illegal on his person, which he denied, according to an arrest report.

When Edmonson was  searched at the jail, a corrections office reported finding a small bag of marijuana in the coin pocket of Edmonson’s pants, and a bag of methamphetamine fell out of his pants leg.

Edmondson was charged with two felony counts of smuggling contraband into the county jail. His remained in the Escambia County jail with bond set at $5,250.

Comments

11 Responses to “ECSO: Accused Shoplifter Charged With Smuggling Drugs Into Jail”

  1. David Huie Green on December 23rd, 2017 1:43 pm

    (or stop paying your taxes)

  2. David Huie Green on December 23rd, 2017 1:41 pm

    REGARDING:
    ” Charge him for possession of those drugs, and charge him for the shoplifting. Who are authorizing these nonsense charges. As a taxpayer I am sick of it.”

    I AM.

    I vote for the people who write the laws and enforce the laws. I actually want meth-heads and thieves off the street — and staying out of my house when they’re looking for something to turn into a fix. Potheads don’t interest me if they pay for it without stealing and don’t kill anyone I care about, but the people my vote put in office include it when they are committing other crimes and you can’t prove it wasn’t a factor.

    Once they’re in prison, I’m tempted to give them all the dope their addled, addicted hearts desire just to shorten their prison time and public expense and danger, but the people I elected don’t want to assist their suicides, so it won’t happen soon.

    Regardless, run for office on the platform that you will legalize shoplifting and other crimes and see how many agree with you.

    David for personal responsibility

  3. Deborah on December 20th, 2017 12:19 am

    Why does everyone think prison cures drug abuse? I know people who have been to a lockdown rehab and prisons. I was informed about what goes on in them. The drugs are There! They dont come off them. They die there…

  4. Hmmm on December 19th, 2017 9:36 pm

    Jails and prisons are full of weapons and drugs. It must be because of poor searches… No, it’s called the human factor. You can’t feel everything while conducting a search nor a pat down. It is a requirement to ask if they have any illegal items on them before going to jail. It mitigates the “I forgot that was in there” defense. Walk a mile in their shoes before you judge the officers making split second decisions.

  5. Carl on December 19th, 2017 8:50 pm

    On many “COPS” episodes I have seen them search a suspect and regardless of if they find anything or not, they tell them the same thing about taking drugs into jail. I am sure they searched him for weapons. They do a much more in “depth’ search at the jail.

  6. Grand Locust on December 19th, 2017 6:38 pm

    More idiotic overcharging of non violent dopes and mopes. His intent was not to smuggle drugs into jail, it was to keep his sorry butt out of jail. Do a proper field search. Lazy field search procedures get people killed. Stop the nonsense. It is like we are cannibals and have turned on ourselves. stop it. Charge him for possession of those drugs, and charge him for the shoplifting. Who are authorizing these nonsense charges. As a taxpayer I am sick of it.

  7. Give the deputy a break on December 19th, 2017 6:26 pm

    Come on on folks, the man was likely patted down for weapons(knives, guns, hand grenades, etc.), but a small bag of pot in a coin pocket and a meth bag probably not much bigger than a dime are easy to miss. It’s his fault that his misdemeanor has now turned into two felonies which may have him spending Christmas in jail. Not smart. Just so future law breakers know, when booked into the county jail you WILL be required to strip out of your clothes and into a jump suit after the whole squat and cough. Just come clean, they will find it!

  8. Patriot on December 19th, 2017 5:36 pm

    It seems y’all are assuming that the deputy did not search the suspect, I find that highly unlikely. What’s more likely is that it was a poor search. If someone has a small bag of meth in their underwear, a search isn’t generally going to find it.
    I hope you’re not expecting deputies to perform strip searches on the street.

    Mr. Nobody, as a law enforcement professional, there is no such thing as a “pat search”. There’s a “pat down” (for weapons), and there is a “search”. They are NOT the same thing.

  9. Mr. Nobody on December 19th, 2017 7:04 am

    So as a law enforcement professional I have to ask why a deputy has a suspect in the patrol vehicle that was not searched. If the suspect was arrested properly a pat search would have been conducted. I can’t understand why he was asked if he had contraband and the officer just trusted him. Guess it’s a good thing he didn’t have a cuff key and a gun.

  10. Trocarman on December 19th, 2017 6:42 am

    It seems that a prerequisite for meth use is being stupid. Even worse they think they are smarter than everyone else. Maybe a long prison sentence is what he really needs.

  11. Stephen on December 19th, 2017 6:34 am

    So, even though they asked him, they didn’t do a search on site? I thought it was standard procedure to search suspects on site.