Bikini-clad woman found in possession of prescription drugs lies about her identity

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office reported to local Historic City News reporters yesterday that an encounter with 31-year-old Samantha Weatherford, who resides at 305 North Villa San Marco Drive in St Augustine, led to an early-morning drug arrest.

A staff member at Riverside Cottages, a St. Augustine nursing home, called 911 to report a woman near a suspicious vehicle in their parking lot at about 2:30 a.m.

Deputies arrived on the scene to find Weatherford wearing a bikini top and thong bottom, even though the weather was a brisk 59 degrees.  She appeared to be sweating and flush and cleaning out her vehicle in the parking lot, according to the arrest report.  She couldn’t explain why she was outside the nursing home.

Deputies said that while they were questioning Weatherford, she began rummaging through her backpack.  When she put her hands inside her bikini bottom, deputies decided to pat her down for “officer safety reasons”.  During the pat-down, five pills fell out of Weatherford’s bikini top onto the ground, the report said.

A visual inspection of the pills by the deputies tentatively identified them as clonazepam; a generic benzodiazepine sold under the brand name “Klonopin” and taken by patients as a medium strength sedative to prevent and control seizures.  It is also prescribed to combat anxiety and panic disorders.

Deputies determined that Weatherford did not have a prescription for the clonazepam and that she had given them a fake name when they first questioned her about the drugs. 

She was arrested and charged with five counts of possession of a controlled substance, each a third-degree felony, and one count of giving false information to law enforcement officers, a first-degree misdemeanor.  She was taken to the St Johns County Detention Facility where she was booked and is being held in lieu of $13,000 bond.