A 24-year-old Zephyrhills woman was arrested recently by Zephyrhills Police on possession of a controlled substance without a prescription charges and earned an additional charge of evidence tampering after trying to pass a vape and other drugs to her grandmother.
According to a ZPD complaint affidavit, Marie Haney Italia was arrested April 24 after police responded to a verbal disturbance in process. Italia was detained by police and attempted to pass the vape to the grandmother along with a small plastic bag of what appeared to be a crystal-like substance, and several tablets later identified as Xanax.
A field test of the crystal-like substance weighing .68 grams showed a positive result of methamphetamine. The tablets were identified as Alprazolam.
The affidavit states Italia was read her rights and told police she picked the bag up off the floor and placed it in her pocket. She said she attempted to pass it to her grandmother because she “knew what to do with it” and that they discussed such situations previously.
Italia was subsequently transported to the Pasco County Jail in Land O’ Lakes without incident.