Jacksonville woman arrested after police find drugs and gun in parked car
Police found a loaded handgun, fentanyl and marijuana in a car idling outside a vacant Pettiford Drive West home, leading to Valenda Johnson’s arrest.
A suspicious car idling in front of a vacant Jacksonville home turned into a felony arrest early Wednesday when officers found 37-year-old Valenda Johnson asleep in the driver’s seat and uncovered drugs and a loaded gun inside the vehicle.
Jacksonville police responded around 1:50 a.m. to Pettiford Drive West after reports of the vehicle. When officers reached the scene, they found the SUV parked the wrong way outside the vacant house and woke Johnson, who was later identified as a convicted felon. A search of the vehicle turned up fentanyl, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a loaded handgun.
Johnson was charged with trafficking fentanyl, possession of a weapon by a felon and drug possession. Officers also cited her for improper parking and having an open container of alcohol in the car. Her SUV was towed from the scene, and she was booked into the Duval County jail.
The arrest adds another example of how overnight patrol work in Jacksonville can shift quickly from a routine suspicious-vehicle check to a more serious public-safety case. A car sitting in front of a vacant home may draw attention on its own, but the presence of fentanyl, a firearm and a convicted felon inside the vehicle raised the stakes immediately for officers responding on Pettiford Drive West.
Johnson’s criminal history also drew scrutiny. Police said she had a 2021 Polk County grand theft case in her background, a detail that matters because Florida law bars convicted felons from possessing firearms. In this case, the combination of narcotics and a loaded handgun is what turned an odd parking situation into a set of felony charges.
The incident underscores the role of patrol officers in spotting behavior that does not fit the scene, especially in the early morning hours when a vehicle idling outside a vacant house can signal impairment, concealment or something more dangerous. On Pettiford Drive West, that check ended with drugs, a weapon and one more arrest off Jacksonville streets.
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