A 23-year-old Boca Raton woman was arrested on a felony cocaine possession charge after Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies found drugs in a parked vehicle at Sandalfoot Plaza, according to an arrest report obtained by BocaNewsNow.com.
Deputies arrested Gianna Marion Padla at 3:49 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27, at the plaza at State Road 7 and Sandalfoot Boulevard. The report was processed by the Clerk of Courts shortly before it was made public. Police described part of the plaza as a known drug area.
Deputies said they were walking the north parking lot during a foot patrol when they saw a blue Ford Bronco with its rear doors open. Two people were in the back seat, and Padla sat behind the driver’s seat. Deputies said they smelled burnt cannabis as they approached. A man in the vehicle was searched first and had no contraband.
Inside Padla’s purse, deputies reported finding a baggie of marijuana, a metal grinder containing more marijuana, and a small gray container holding a baggie of white powder. The powder tested positive for cocaine on a presumptive field test at the sheriff’s District 7 station. The amount was less than one gram.
Padla was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and taken to the Palm Beach County Jail. Bond was set at $500. The arrest report lists no marijuana charges.
Charges are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
