Weekend roundup includes 10 arrests, 671 calls for service ahead of New Year’s Eve
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies made 10 arrests and handled 671 calls for service between Friday evening, December 26, and Monday morning, December 29, while also conducting 194 traffic stops during the holiday weekend.
On Friday evening, a deputy patrolling Old Kings Road in Palm Coast spotted a pickup truck that appeared to have broken down and was blocking the right turn lane. When the deputy approached the vehicle, he made contact with the driver and a passenger identified as 42-year-old Robin Strickland of Bunnell.
The deputy detected the smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle and asked the driver if any was present. The driver confirmed there was and retrieved two plastic bags of marijuana from the glove compartment. Neither the driver nor Strickland had a medical marijuana card.
Before the deputy searched the vehicle, Strickland told him there was THC powder inside her backpack on the floorboard. During the search, the deputy found the THC powder and a grinder with marijuana residue in the glove compartment.
A female deputy arrived and searched Strickland, finding a crystal-like substance wrapped in wax paper in her bra. The substance tested positive for methamphetamine. Strickland told deputies she did not know she had the methamphetamine on her.
Deputies arrested Strickland for possession of methamphetamine, possession of THC, and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was transported to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where detention deputies asked if she had anything illegal on her. Strickland said no. However, during the booking process, detention deputies found two pieces of aluminum foil with burnt methamphetamine residue in her pocket. She was additionally charged with the introduction of contraband into a county detention facility.
“When deputies ask if you have any drugs on you, and you know you do, it’s better to admit it than bring it into the jail,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “Lying or trying to hide anything while being booked into jail will only bring you another felony charge.”
Strickland is being held on a $6,500 bond.
Early Saturday morning, a deputy and a Bunnell Police Department officer observed a vehicle exit a parking lot onto U.S. Highway 1 in Bunnell and drive into oncoming traffic, traveling northbound in the southbound lanes. The vehicle then abruptly crossed over the concrete median into the correct lanes.
Officers pulled the vehicle over at the intersection of East Palm Street and North Church Street and identified the driver as 37-year-old Brandie Gambrell of Lula, Georgia. Deputies noticed several signs of intoxication, including slurred speech, watery and bloodshot eyes, crying, and a strong odor of alcohol on her breath. When asked for identification, Gambrell provided a credit card instead of a driver’s license.
Gambrell failed a series of field sobriety exercises, struggling to understand instructions and unable to maintain her balance. Deputies arrested her for DUI and transported her to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where breath alcohol tests showed blood alcohol content readings of 0.253 percent and 0.259 percent, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
“Brandie may have had way too much brandy for the holidays, but choosing to get behind the wheel of a car was incredibly stupid and dangerous,” said Sheriff Staly. “When you drive impaired, you not only put yourself at risk, but you’re also endangering the lives of anyone else in the car or on the roadway. Luckily, deputies and a Bunnell officer witnessed her impaired driving and stopped her before she killed someone.”
Gambrell was released on a $1,000 bond.
With New Year’s Eve approaching, the Sheriff issued a reminder to the public about safe driving.
“I remind drivers to have a designated driver or a plan for a safe ride home if you plan to celebrate,” Sheriff Staly said. “You don’t want to start 2026 inside the bars at the Green Roof Inn.”
