A Gainesville man who was stopped in Summerfield for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and admitted to eating marijuana to hide it from a Marion County sheriff’s deputy is behind bars.

An off-duty deputy was traveling west on County Road 42 on Sunday night when he came up behind a red Toyota Prius that was unable to maintain a single lane and had crossed over the double-yellow and fog lines several times. After the vehicle, driven by 30-year-old

Adam Ahmed, failed to come to a complete stop at the red light at the intersection of CR 42 and U.S. Hwy. 27/441, the deputy conducted a traffic stop. He reported the just prior to the stop, the vehicle was traveling in the center of the two lanes on the highway.

A second deputy arrived and made contact with Ahmed, who had bloodshot eyes and was “nervously shaking.” The deputy, who is a certified drug recognition expert and noted the smell of burnt marijuana in Ahmed’s vehicle, also observed that his pupils appeared to be dilated in the direct light of his flashlight.

After Ahmed struggled through field sobriety exercises where he had eyelid and body tremors, the deputy him under arrest and sat him in his patrol vehicle. After completing an inventory of Ahmed’s vehicle, the deputy returned to his cruiser and noticed a strong odor of marijuana that hadn’t been present earlier, a sheriff’s office report states.

After being read his rights, Ahmed told the deputy he had eaten marijuana that was hidden in a plastic baggie inside his left shoe. The deputy field tested the remaining green leafy substance in the baggie and it tested positive for marijuana, a sheriff’s office report says, adding that Ahmed admitted to smoking marijuana about 24 hours before the traffic stop.

Ahmed was transported to the Marion County Jail, where he provided a breath sample that showed .000 blood alcohol content. He also provided a urine sample and agreed to a drug influence evaluation. The deputy noted that he believed Ahmed was impaired by cannabis at the time of that evaluation and “could not operate a motor vehicle safely.”

Ahmed was charged with driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, obstructing justice (tampering in misdemeanor proceedings) and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was being held on $13,000 bond and his next court date hasn’t yet been set, jail records show.