Hernando County sheriff’s deputies responded to the following calls, according to agency reports:
• Missing adult recovered, District 2 — Deputies and family members located an elderly woman who wandered away from her home. A neighbor spotted her unharmed on a nearby property, and deputies helped family members return her home safely.
• DUI, drug possession, District 2 — A deputy directing traffic at a crash scene saw a driver disregard his commands and drive into the scene, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver showed signs of impairment during the ensuing traffic stop and refused sobriety testing, deputies said. Deputies reported finding more than 94 grams of marijuana, about 3.3 ounces, in the vehicle. The driver was arrested.
• Missing juvenile recovered, District 2 — Deputies searched a neighborhood for a 16-year-old boy who left home on foot after a family argument, the sheriff’s office said. A deputy reached the teen by phone, confirmed he was at a nearby shopping plaza and returned him to his parent.
• Drug arrests after traffic stop, District 2 — A sheriff’s K-9 alerted to the odor of narcotics during a traffic stop, according to the sheriff’s office. Deputies reported finding drugs in the driver’s purse and more than 36 grams of cocaine, about 1.3 ounces, concealed on the passenger. Both were arrested.
Deputies charge driver after crash, chase
WEEKI WACHEE — Hernando County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Weeki Wachee-area driver on July 26 after he crashed into a fence, fled and then struck two patrol vehicles and a civilian vehicle, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responding to reports of a reckless driver found the suspect vehicle and tried to stop it, the agency said. The driver, identified as Brandon Beharrylal, 31, stopped briefly, then backed into a K-9 deputy’s marked patrol vehicle and sped through a parking lot, according to his arrest report. He struck a second marked patrol vehicle and collided with a civilian vehicle before deputies took him into custody.
No deputies were injured, and the K-9 inside the patrol vehicle was unharmed, the sheriff’s office said. The driver and passenger of the civilian vehicle were taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
Deputies reported that Beharrylal showed signs of impairment and refused field sobriety exercises. He told deputies he had been drinking and believed he was over the legal limit, according to the arrest report.
Beharrylal was charged with DUI with refusal to submit to testing, two counts of DUI with property damage, leaving the scene of a crash, damaging public property, fleeing to elude, criminal mischief and marijuana possession.
Convicted sex offender faces extradition
Members of the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office intelligence unit have arrested a convicted sex offender sought by Washington state authorities for more than 18 months, according to the agency.
Deputies located and arrested Jeremy Gordon, 43, without incident on July 17, the Sheriff’s Office said.
A records check confirmed that the Washington State Department of Corrections wanted Gordon on a parole violation warrant issued Dec. 27, 2024, stemming from a conviction for first-degree child molestation, according to the agency. Investigators also confirmed that the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office wanted Gordon on an Oct. 8, 2025, warrant charging failure to register as a sex offender.
Detectives are working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to complete the state’s required sexual offender and predator profile and determine Gordon’s classification under Florida law, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Gordon also faces local charges of failure to register as a sexual offender, providing false identification to law enforcement and driving with a suspended or revoked license. He is being held at the Hernando County Detention Center and will be extradited to Washington once the local charges are resolved, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Spring Hill woman faces contraband, paraphernalia charges
SPRING HILL — A Spring Hill woman arrested on drug charges three days earlier was arrested again July 27 after a traffic stop turned up cocaine, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy stopped a vehicle in the Spring Hill area after observing a traffic violation, the agency said. A second deputy responded with his K-9 partner, Kylo, which alerted to the odor of narcotics during an open-air sniff of the vehicle.
Deputies reported finding paraphernalia containing cocaine residue and a digital scale in a pouch beneath the front passenger seat. The passenger, Deborah DeFazio, 59, told deputies the pouch and its contents were hers, according to her arrest report.
Detention deputies found additional cocaine concealed on DeFazio during booking at the Hernando County Detention Center, the Sheriff’s Office said.
DeFazio was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and introduction of contraband into a detention facility.