Reckless Driver Dealt Crack Cocaine Charge

A Dunedin man speeding and running stop signs through a southside neighborhood was caught last week with a large baggie of crack cocaine, according to arrest records.

Jermaine Thurman, 23, of Martin Luther King Drive, was reportedly driving recklessly on a revoked license in the Lexington Street and Highland Avenue area with children and adults near the roadway shortly before 7 p.m. on Oct 17. 

When he was pulled over, Thurman got out of his vehicle and attempted to run from Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies through some hedges and toward the rear of a home on Garden Circle, refusing orders to lay on the ground, according to arrest records. Authorities say that they saw Thurman attempt to throw a large baggie containing 18 grams of cocaine on the roof, but it fell to the ground, according to arrest records. Some force was used to apprehend the suspect.

The cocaine, which authorities believe he intended to sell, was recovered. 

Thurman was arrested on two misdemeanor charges, including reckless driving and resisting an officer without violence, and seven felony charges, including tampering with physical evidence, possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, driving with a revoked license, and violation of the conditions of his probation for committing similar crimes.

He is being held without bond at Pinellas County Jail for violating his probation.