A traffic stop in Winter Haven resulted in three arrests on felony drug charges after officers discovered cocaine and other narcotics-related items inside a vehicle.
On Monday, December 15, 2025, at approximately 9:28 p.m., a Winter Haven patrol officer observed a black Jeep Gladiator make an improper left-hand turn onto First Street North near Avenue R Northeast.
When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver, 73-year-old Theodore Parker of Haines City, was found to have a clear glass pipe in plain view in the center console. All occupants were removed from the vehicle. As Parker exited, a white, rock-like substance fell from the driver’s seat area into the floorboard. The substance later tested positive for cocaine, giving officers probable cause to search the vehicle.
During the search, officers located a jacket on the rear passenger seat that 40-year-old Stephanie Lee Jackson of Winter Haven had briefly picked up and then placed back down. Inside the jacket pocket, officers found a disassembled pen that tested positive for cocaine. Also recovered was a sealed plastic bottle containing a pink liquid with a prescription label for Methadone HCL 200 mg prescribed to someone other than the occupants of the vehicle. The liquid yielded a raw weight of 22.7 grams.
As the front-seat passenger, 45-year-old Omar Rivera of Winter Haven exited the vehicle, officers requested and received consent to search his person. A white, rock-like substance was found in Rivera’s front pocket, along with a cell phone. Officers also located a ginseng bottle commonly used to conceal crack cocaine. After Rivera was transported to the booking facility, officers discovered he had moved a pipe previously concealed in his underwear to his front pocket.
Parker, Jackson, and Rivera were transported to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Processing Center and charged as follows:
Stephanie Lee Jackson: Trafficking in Methadone (F1), Possession of Cocaine (F3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Theodore Parker: Possession of Cocaine (F3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia Omar Rivera: Possession of Cocaine (F3), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Introduction of Contraband into a Detention Facility
