PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – It’s illegal to buy. It’s illegal to possess, but that’s not keeping people from buying “spice.” The synthetic pot turns some users into walking time bombs, ready to fight the next person who comes along.
Four Pasco County deputies recently dealt with a man hopped up on “spice,” just itching to take them on.
A deputy’s body camera video shows exactly what law enforcement is up against. A few puffs on a spice cigarette or pipe makes some people go totally bonkers.
Deputies answered a call about a disturbance. “Now calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Now what’s going on tonight?” one deputy asked.
Pasco County deputies came across Michael Lane, standing in the middle of a dirt road, cursing.
Sheriff Chris Nocco has seen it before. “He’s just pacing back and forth. He’s looking for a fight, and there was no other way around it. It was either, we were gonna fight, or he was gonna run off and God forbid, break into a home and hurt somebody walking down the street,” Nocco said.
On the body camera recording, you can hear Lane say, “I ain’t done nothing wrong!”
Michael Lane, a Pasco County jail “frequent flyer,” has a long rap sheet. News Channel 8 found nine arrests since 2006. His mug shots chronicle has tangles with the law.
“You people are playing with my mind,” Lane is heard saying.A Deputy responds, “I’m just
A deputy responds, “I’m just Tasing him,” and then the sounds of the Taser going off.
“The effects of it really wasn’t there. He actually said at one point, ‘I want more juice. Give me more juice,’ and then he starts cursing and he says, ‘Ya know, I am God,’ and our deputies said, ‘Well, God doesn’t talk like that,’” Nocco said.
Pasco is the first county in Florida to outlaw spice sales. In 2014, several store owners were busted for selling the fake pot.
After many Taser zaps and a dose of pepper spray, deputies finally got Lane to comply.
