Former Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum arrested on drug charges in Alabama: Police
Courtesy: Daphne Police Department
DAPHNE, Ala. - Former Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee and former Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum was arrested last week in Alabama during a traffic stop after Daphne police say officers searched his vehicle and found marijuana and three packages of a substance that later tested positive for methamphetamine.
Andrew Gillum drug arrest
The backstory:
According to the Daphne Police Department, officers made a traffic stop at around 10:45 p.m. on July 2 on U.S. Highway 98 near North Main Street in Daphne after a vehicle was being driven erratically.
Police identified the driver as Andrew Gillum, 46, of Tallahassee.
Officers said they saw a glass pipe on the vehicle's center console, which led to them searching the vehicle.
During the search, investigators said they recovered:
- Three packages of a substance that tested positive for meth, totaling about 3 grams.
- Several rolled marijuana cigarettes.
- Additional marijuana products.
- Drug paraphernalia, including a bong, pipes and cut straws.
According to TMZ, Daphne police took Gillum into custody later that same night. He was booked into the Baldwin County Jail on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana.
Previous Florida hotel incident
Dig deeper:
The arrest comes several years after Gillum was involved in a high-profile incident in 2020.
In March 2020, police and paramedics responded to a room at the Mondrian South Beach after reports that a man had possibly overdosed. Gillum and another man were found inside the hotel room.
Police body camera footage later showed prescription pill bottles and small bags containing suspected methamphetamine inside the room. However, prosecutors ultimately decided not to file criminal charges against Gillum or the other man, citing insufficient evidence to directly link either individual to the drugs.
Gillum's Florida political career
What we know:
Gillum served as mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018. He won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor in 2018 before narrowly losing the general election to Ron DeSantis by roughly 30,000 votes.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a Daphne Police Department arrest report and reporting by TMZ.