EUSTIS, Florida—A woman arrested earlier this week with nearly 4 pounds of marijuana was a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Lake County Sheriff’s Office nearly a decade ago when her boyfriend was killed by a deputy at the front door of the apartment they shared in 2012.
According to an arrest affidavit, Miranda April Mauck, 30, was traveling 17 miles an hour over the speed limit on County Road 44, around 8:30 p.m. Monday night. An officer with Eustis Police Department pulled her over for speeding in the parking lot of CVS Pharmacy at the corner of C.R. 44 and State Road 19 and could smell marijuana emitting from her vehicle.
An EPD K-9 officer responded to the scene and K-9 Mya’s handler spotted marijuana in a backpack in plain view on the front passenger floorboard, and along with the marijuana, more than $2,000 cash was found, the affidavit states. Mauck was taken into custody and when officers searched her vehicle, they found a Glock 9mm and Ruger .380 under Mauck’s seat, more marijuana, scales, marijuana packaging, THC oil, vape bars and 10 chocolate bars containing Psilocybin mushrooms.
Mauck was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to sell, two counts of carrying a concealed firearm, possession of THC oil, possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was transported to the Lake County Jail, where she was released after just a few hours on $14,000 bond.
On July 15, 2012, Mauck’s boyfriend, Andrew Lee “Drew” Scott, 26, was killed when a LCSO deputy came to his door—the wrong door—looking for a battery suspect. A lawsuit filed in 2013 by Mauck and Scott’s parents against then-Sheriff Gary borders and Deputy Richard Sylvester claimed, Sylvester, “banged on the door” of Mauck’s apartment in Leesburg in the early morning, “in such a manner to bewilder or frighten the residents and foreseeably place said residents in a defense posture.”
Mauck and Scott were watching TV in apartment 114 at Blueberry Hill Apartments in Leesburg and Scott, fearing for their safety, retrieved his legally owned handgun and opened the door. Sylvester fired six shots, striking Scott at least three times and killing him. Mauck was struck by glass and debris. Sylvester did not announce himself as law enforcement and was not criminally charged.
In response to the lawsuit, defendants Borders and Sylvester filed a motion for a summary judgment and the court granted Sylvester qualified immunity and denied Mauck’s and Scott’s parent’s claims. They appealed the ruling and Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling.
