FHP: Trooper stops woman for texting while driving, finds drugs

A Marco Island woman who was pulled over Wednesday because a trooper noticed she was texting while driving was arrested after the trooper found drugs in her car, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Beatriz Alonso, 20, faces two felony charges for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and one misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession (nor more than 20 grams). She was taken to the Naples Jail Center and posted the $12,000 bond the same day.

The trooper was driving south on U.S. 41 near Pine Ridge Road around 5:45 p.m. when he looked over to the car traveling next to him and noticed that Alonso "appeared to be texting," according to a FHP arrest report.

When he pulled Alonso over she told him that she knew she was texting and that she was sorry and explained that she was late for work, the report stated. The trooper smelled "the faint odor of marijuana emitting from within the vehicle" and asked Alonso if there was any marijuana inside the car, according to the report. Alonso told him that there wasn't and said that "she smoked in the car earlier in the morning," the report stated.

After the trooper noticed how nervous Alonso was he asked her if she had "any objections" to him searching her car, according to the report.

"She said she did, causing me to become more suspicious," the trooper wrote. "I then informed her that based on the odor of marijuana I had probable cause to search her car."

While searching through Alonso's car, the trooper found a small glass mason jar inside her purse that contained one whole white pill of suspected Xanax and half of a pill "that was a little yellowish," the report stated. Troopers also found a small "roach" that "smelled strongly of marijuana inside her purse as well as a rolled "joint" inside Alonso's vehicle, according to the report.