- April 19, 2024
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A 61-year-old Palm Coast man allegedly took a package of marijuana that had washed ashore in Flagler County, and deputies have charged him with marijuana possession.
Deputies responded to Jungle Hut Park the morning of Sept. 13 when a woman reported packages of marijuana washing up on the beach.
The drugs had been washing ashore from St. Augustine to New Smyrna Beach over the past two days.
The woman said she saw Robert Kelley, 61, along with other people, trying to open the bundles and take packages of marijuana.
She told the people on the beach that she was on the phone with the Sheriff's Office and told them not to take the drugs, but they didn't listen, according to an FCSO charging affidavit.
When deputies arrived, two people said that Kelley had opened a bundle that had washed up on the beach, taken out a brick of marijuana and walked off.
When a deputy confronted him and asked if he'd taken marijuana, Kelley pointed at his car and said he was holding it for law enforcement.
He initially said the brick of marijuana he'd taken had washed up separately and denied having taken it out of a larger bundle, but he later changed his story and admitted that he'd taken it out of a bundle.
When asked why he hadn't contacted law enforcement immediately, Kelley said he didn't do so because he wasn't sure if the Sheriff's Office would come or not, according to an FCSO news release.
When a deputy searched Kelley's car, an 11-pound (wet) brick of marijuana was found wrapped in a beach towel in his trunk, according to the charging affidavit.
The Sheriff's Office has recovered approximately 100 pounds of marijuana that have washed up on Flagler County beaches over the past two days, according to the news release.
