A convicted sexual predator ditched his tracking device in a garbage can and overdosed on an opioid drug before he was finally arrested by deputies from the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) on multiple charges.
HCSO Public Relations Manager Denise Moloney said that just before 2 a.m. on July 8, agency deputies went to the 7-Eleven, at 765 S. Broad St. in Brooksville to assist a Probation and Parole officer in locating 29-year-old Albert Lee Gardner, whose GPS tracking device had been tracking the location for an unusual amount of time.
The deputies and the Probation and Parole officer searched several locations within the city but failed to find Gardner. When they returned to the 7-11 store, they found the GPS tracker in a garbage can on the property.
At about the same time, the deputies searching for Gardner heard that other deputies were on their way to 635 W. Fort Dade Ave. in Brooksville in response to an overdose.
Upon arrival, they found that Gardner had overdosed on an opioid drug. Deputies gave Gardner Narcan at the scene before he was taken by ambulance to Bravera Health Brooksville, where he was medically cleared by physicians.
Gardner was subsequently arrested and booked into the Hernando County Detention Center, where he was booked and is being held on multiple charges, including violation of probation/Lewd and Lascivious Battery involving a victim 12 to 15 years old and tampering with an electronic monitoring device.
