Jacksonville, Fl. — 54-year-old Nanette Willis is facing charges for resisting an officer, tampering with evidence, and battery on a law enforcement officer.
According to the police report from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, Willis was sitting behind a business in the Anastasia Plaza on A1A South. An officer patrolling the area stated he watched her for several minutes just sitting in place. As the officer approached Willis, he said she appeared to be very nervous and was holding her bag tightly against her body.
The officer asked Willis what she was doing and if she worked in the plaza. She replied no and told the officer she was talking on the phone. The officer then told the woman she is loitering and should not be sitting in the area. Willis then handed the officer a piece of paper with her name on it, which the officer handed back and asked the woman if he could search her purse.
Willis handed over the purse and the officer began to search inside. He found a pill bottle with no label and ‘3 white rocks with a yellow tint’ inside. In the report, the officer said based on his training he recognized the rocks to be consistent with crack cocaine.
The officer questioned the woman about what was inside and she replied, “nothing.” Willis then grabbed the bottle at the same of the officer which started a struggle. The officer commanded Willis to let go of the bottle, but continued to resist and pulled away from him.
The officer then placed Willis on the ground, where he said she started to take the top off the bottle and place the rocks inside her mouth. The officer said this was an attempt to destroy evidence while actively resisting him.
The officer tried to prevent Willis from swallowing the suspected drugs by pushing onto her neck from under her jaw. Willis continued to grab the officer’s hands against his will and tried to pull them away. She tried to get away but refusing to stay on the ground. It is then noted in the police report, that the officer noticed cuts on Willis from the pavement that were bleeding.
The woman continued to try and get away, another officer came to assist the original officer. The second officer deployed the original officer’s Taser to stun Willis. She was then placed in the back of the Patrol car.
