A slow-speed chase through a Walmart parking lot ended with a Cantonment, Florida man facing methamphetamine trafficking charges after deputies say he tried to shed evidence from his truck window while refusing to pull over.
Charlie Clifford Davis, 55, was arrested after an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted his white pickup truck crossing the center line multiple times and stopping improperly at the intersection of West Nine Mile Road and Pensacola Boulevard. When the deputy activated emergency lights and a siren, Davis did not stop. Instead, according to the arrest report, he slowed down and continued driving north into the parking lot of a nearby Walmart at 8970 Pensacola Boulevard.
During the pursuit, which authorities described as taking place at a slow speed within the confines of the parking lot, the deputy reported seeing Davis reaching frantically around the passenger seat, causing the truck to swerve and jerk with its passenger window rolled down. Davis eventually made an abrupt U-turn inside the Walmart lot before pulling into an adjacent Murphy USA gas station, where he finally brought the truck to a stop. Even after stopping, deputies say Davis kept reaching into the passenger area of the cab before he got out and surrendered.
A K-9 unit that responded to the scene indicated probable cause to search the truck. What deputies found inside and around the vehicle painted a picture of an attempt to ditch drugs during the slow pursuit. Officers recovered 17.9 grams of a crystalline substance scattered throughout the interior of the cab, with a heavy concentration coating the passenger door panel next to the open window where Davis had reportedly been reaching. Another 4 grams of the same substance turned up on the pavement near the Murphy USA entrance, close to where Davis made his U-turn. A clear plastic bag holding 12.8 grams of marijuana was also found discarded in a bush next to where the truck came to rest. The white crystalline material field-tested positive for methamphetamine, bringing the total recovered to 21.9 grams.
When deputies questioned Davis, he admitted to smoking marijuana but denied the bag found in the bush belonged to him. He also denied any current involvement with methamphetamine, telling deputies he was “clean” and no longer used the drug, according to the arrest report.
Davis was charged with trafficking methamphetamine in an amount of 14 grams or more, tampering with evidence in a criminal proceeding, possession of marijuana, and driving with a suspended or revoked license, a charge listed as his third or subsequent offense. He was booked into the Escambia County Jail and later released on a $108,500 bond.
A records check by investigators turned up a lengthy history of driving violations tied to Davis, including 10 prior convictions for driving on a suspended license. His license has been revoked since 1994, and his most recent suspension stemmed from a fleeing and eluding conviction in November 2024, meaning Tuesday’s incident was not the first time Davis has been accused of failing to stop for law enforcement.
Methamphetamine trafficking charges in Florida carry significant mandatory minimum sentences once the threshold weight is met, and prosecutors in cases involving amounts near the 14-gram trafficking threshold often look closely at surrounding circumstances, including any attempt to destroy or discard evidence during an arrest, which can support additional tampering charges of the kind Davis now faces. The case remains under investigation, and it was not immediately clear when Davis is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the new charges.