Okeechobee County - Friday August 4, 2023: Okeechobee County Sheriff Deputies (OCSO) arrested John Stripling on a meth possession charge Thursday afternoon after he tried to get away on his All Terrain Vehicle while picking Saw Palmetto Berries on South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) property.
OKSO Deputy Mark Wright and K9 Handler (FTO) Karson Reno were sent to the area after Sheriff Noel Stephen got a tip about a couple illegally picking the berries on SFWMD property in Okeechobee.
When they arrived at the property the Deputies saw a man and a woman entering the woods about 500 yards away from them. When they approached, the pair took off on a four-wheel ATV, driving away from the Deputies.
According to a release from the OCSO, despite the siren and lights flashing on the pursuing OCSO patrol car, the man driving the vehicle went faster as the woman sitting next to him in the ATV kept looking back at the Deputies chasing them.
The chase went on for about a half-mile when the driver finally decided to stop, and both he and the woman raised their hands in the air.
John Stripling was the driver of the ATV and Elizabeth Woods was the passenger. Both are Okeechobee residents.
Stripling told the Deputies that he'd been on the property picking berries with Woods for about an hour-and-a-half. Although Stripling has a permit to harvest, he needed permission to be on SFWM property to pick, which he admitted he did not have. Woods also admitted to helping pick berries. She did not have a permit.
Roughly 100-pounds of harvested saw-palmetto berries were found piled on a tarp. However the Deputies also found a 305 cigarette pack which they'd seen Stripling throw out. Inside the pack was a crystal-like substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Stripling was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of fentanyl, tampering with evidence, fleeing and eluding with lights and sirens activated, and harvesting an endangered plant without permission.
Elizabeth Woods was charged with Harvesting an endangered plant without being permitted. Both were transported to the Okeechobee County Detention Facility without incident.
General Saw Palmetto Berry Guidelines
The OCSO reminds residents that besides a permit to harvest, you need to have written permission to be on a property to harvest Saw Palmetto Berries.
To harvest, sell, or transport berries, individuals and landowners must obtain a FREE FDACS permit to harvest endangered or commercially exploited plants.
Saw Palmetto Berry Page: https://www.fdacs.gov/.../plant-industry-saw-palmetto...
Permit Application: https://forms.fdac.gov/08025.pdf
Online Portal for Electronic Submission: https://nece.fdacs.gov/landing
Office hours are Monday thru Friday 8a-4:30p. After-hour questions, call 1-800-342-5869.