Domestic dispute leads to drug charges

Deputies and detectives responding to a domestic dispute on Big Coppitt Key arrested a man for possessing drugs.

When the officers arrived at the house on Avenue C, Big Coppitt Key at 12:30 p.m., they spoke with the female victim. She said her husband accused her of stealing his drugs, then hit and kicked her. She said she was afraid of him, so she fled to a neighbor’s house to call for help.

When deputies checked their house, looking for her husband, 45 year old Mark Morales, they found the door open, but he was not home. One of the officers heard what sounded like a person walking around in a vacant lot next door. She checked the lot and found a grey cloth lunch bag with 19 small baggies of cocaine with a total of 26 grams of cocaine inside and 20 Oxycontin pills inside. Officers also found a large plastic bag with 50 grams of an unknown white powder inside.

Morales’ wife said her husband has been dealing in cocaine, as well as consuming it. She said sometimes, when he gets paranoid, he hides the drugs in the back yard or the vacant lot then forgets where he puts them. She said he would then sometimes accuse her of stealing them.

While officers were on the scene, Morales’ step-father showed up. He agreed to take them to Morales, who was at a nearby restaurant. Morales was taken into custody. He admitted the drugs were his. He was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was booked into jail.