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Fun ends for many outside the gate
By MATTHEW WAITE, Times Staff Writer ZEPHYRHILLS -- One tried asking a deputy for directions from behind the wheel of his car. His alcohol-laden breath gave him away. Several tried selling drugs to an undercover Pasco County sheriff's deputy. Most of the others had a taillight out or a license plate out of view before deputies stopped them. Afterward, they were arrested for marijuana possession or giving a fake name to officers. Nearly 60 people were arrested at Livestock this weekend, most of them before they ever got to the gate of the huge rock festival in Zephyrhills. The festival's final day wound down Sunday afternoon. The majority of the arrests were for drug charges. Each day of the festival, the arrest tally piled up. There were 24 arrests on Thursday night, a day and a half before the festival even started. From Friday night to Saturday morning, another 16 people were arrested on 38 charges. From Saturday night to Sunday morning, another 19 people were arrested on 31 charges. And with a Sunday full of partying to go before deputies emptied out Festival Park Sunday evening, there were bound to be more arrests. No official numbers were available for the injuries and overdoses paramedics responded to over the weekend. Throughout the day Sunday, Pasco County Fire Rescue paramedics were called to several possible overdoses, but none of them were deemed serious. Of the 59 arrests made by Sunday morning, six of them occurred inside the park. Three arrests during the festival resulted in the Sheriff's Office confiscating 11 tanks of nitrous oxide, better known as pain-killing "laughing gas."
On Friday at 9:30 p.m., Kevin Deasy, 32, of Pittsburgh was arrested. Undercover deputies moving around the campground area -- commonly known for beer-logged revelry and bawdy behavior -- said they saw him filling balloons with the gas. When the vice detectives approached him, he said the balloons were $5 each. Deputies found three tanks of nitrous oxide, and Deasy told detectives he got them from somebody he didn't know in Philadelphia. He was taken to the Land O'Lakes jail and faces charges of possession of nitrous oxide and possession of nitrous oxide with intent to sell. On Saturday night, deputies made two separate arrests -- one in the park, one outside. At 10:26 p.m. Saturday, deputies said, they pulled over a pickup truck on Springdale Drive because of a minor traffic violation and five nitrous oxide tanks in the back of the truck. Behind the wheel was Austin J. Wiffels, 28, of 1819 E Oakloosa Ave. in Tampa. Deputies searched him and found a package of balloons in his pants, as well as balloons lying around the cab of the truck. Wiffels was taken to the Land O'Lakes jail and faces a charge of possession of nitrous oxide. Two hours later, detectives inside the park bought five balloons of nitrous oxide for $35 from a man they identified as Jeremiah Thompson, 24, of 7395 Wabash Trail in Spring Hill. Thompson, according to reports, fled into a trailer. When deputies chased him, they found three tanks of nitrous oxide in the trailer, as well as balloons. Thompson denied selling the balloons and was taken to the Land O'Lakes jail to face charges of possession and possession with intent to sell nitrous oxide. He was also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Deasy and Thompson were being held Sunday afternoon on $5,000 and $5,250 bail, respectively. Wiffels was released Sunday on $5,000 bail.
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