On The Night Shift: Santa Rosa Sheriff Johnson Makes ‘Substantial’ Drug Bust

March 4, 2018

A traffic stop by the Santa Rosa County sheriff led a “substantial” drug arrest.

Sheriff Bob Johnson was working an evening patrol shift about 9:00 when he observed a vehicle with several violations traveling eastbound on Highway 98. Sheriff Johnson conducted a traffic stop with his unmarked cruiser at the intersection of Highway 98 and Fox Den Drive.

The driver was identified via passport as Sunsiarae Swatzel, a 47- year old female from Fort Walton Beach.

Johnson said he believed there were indicators of other activity and called for a K-9 unit to respond. Shortly after, K-9 Zeus arrived and alerted on the vehicle for the presence of narcotics. After a search of the vehicle, the following illegal items were inside Swatzel’s purse that was inside the vehicle, according to the SRSO:

  • four bags of methamphetamine,
  • four Xanax pills,
  • one Alprazolam,
  • 0.8 grams of heroin,
  • 5 grams of marijuana,
  • one syringe with unknown clear liquid
  • a powder substance that was possibly Fentanyl

Swatzel was charged with delivering or distributing meth, two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and marijuana possession She also received two traffic citations.

Pictured: Drugs recovered by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. Pictured below: Sheriff’s Bog Johnson was working an evening patrol shift when he made a traffic stop and arrested a woman who allegedly had a “substantial” quantity of drugs in a purse. Courtesy photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

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Comments

8 Responses to “On The Night Shift: Santa Rosa Sheriff Johnson Makes ‘Substantial’ Drug Bust”

  1. Gman on March 5th, 2018 5:04 am

    Glad to see the brass out from behind the desk from time to time. Rookies take note of old school police work.

  2. Bob C. on March 4th, 2018 11:02 pm

    Congratulations to Santa Rosa County Sheriff, Johnson.
    Your law enforcement senses and gut feelings resulted in a clean stop and bust of this woman who was carrying Poison with her and had the only intent to distribute to others.
    Mr. Morgan, Sheriff of Escambia County could not have done this because he is not a properly Certified Law Enforcement Officer and thus can act only with a Citizens Arrest.
    ECSO officers deserve to have a Certified LEO at their helm.

  3. retired on March 4th, 2018 5:36 pm

    at least some sheriff’s work and know how to do the job. not like other county’s

  4. Jake Gibbs on March 4th, 2018 2:26 pm

    Bewildered:
    It’s called “dope” for a reason. It makes you stupid.

  5. Jim on March 4th, 2018 10:43 am

    @Bewildered ~ I have often thought that same thing. The only conclusion I can come to is that there is something in that criminal personality that says no law matters to them. She’s obviously not concerned about self preservation, and the car is not really anything she’s concerned about, either. I think it’s just the lifestyle of doing what they want to do for themselves, and thoughts about regulations and requirements don’t even enter into their realm of awareness, except as peripheral noise. Along with that, they have to accept that whatever happens, happens, and they’ll deal with it at the time.

  6. bewildered on March 4th, 2018 8:31 am

    Why do most of the people who are charged with narcotics violations drive without a license and a car that has all kinds of flaws? They are just asking to be pulled over. They carry bundles of cash money but do not have enough sense to bring their vehicle up to snuff and buy insurance, etc.

  7. bigbubba on March 4th, 2018 7:43 am

    How embarrassing for the poison peddler to be caught with those sub-par rolling papers…prison for the poison peddler so say we all.

  8. Stephen Gundelfinger on March 4th, 2018 3:59 am

    Great job, Sheriff Johnson. Thank you for you and your deputies service to the community.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News