Florida Highway Patrol troopers say Jeremiah Baxter kept driving on I-95 near Boynton Beach after lights and sirens were activated, with a 3-year-old child in the truck. He was later booked into the Palm Beach County Jail after troopers say marijuana was found during an inventory search and he faced four misdemeanor charges.
The stop began after a caller reported a black Dodge Ram was swerving, running without headlights and driven by someone who appeared to be drinking and using a phone. A trooper then saw the truck traveling north without headlights or taillights and following another vehicle too closely.
Troopers say Baxter did not pull over right away. Instead, after the patrol car signaled for him to stop, he kept going at about 40 mph in a 65-mph zone and moved onto the shoulder before a second trooper moved in front of the truck and he finally stopped. Troopers then removed and handcuffed Baxter, and they confirmed the child was in a car seat in the rear passenger-side seat.
Baxter told troopers he had delayed stopping because he was on the phone and adjusting a neck pillow around his daughter. He also told them he had not been drinking. That mattered because the report notes a trooper smelled a slight odor of alcohol on his breath, but there were no other signs of impairment and no DUI case was pursued.
The search that followed turned up two bags containing a total of 2.7 grams of marijuana in a backpack, along with pre-rolled tips. Field tests were positive for marijuana, but no alcoholic beverages were found in the truck. The child’s mother later arrived and took custody of her.
What remains most striking is how many separate concerns ended up folded into one roadside stop: the alleged failure to stop for Florida Highway Patrol, the child in the truck, and the marijuana found after the arrest. Baxter now faces four misdemeanor charges and a civil traffic citation for driving at night without headlights or taillights, turning a late-night traffic complaint into a criminal case that is already well beyond the roadside shoulder.
