Patrick Townsend, Lakeland drug suspect, flushes confession down the toilet, say deputies

Recorder with saved confession was destroyed

A Tampa Bay area man has been sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a woman in her home. A Pasco County judge sentenced Derral Wayne Hodgkins on Friday. He was convicted in August 2011 of first-degree murder.

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Posted: 11/24/2012

By: Associated Press

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities in Florida say a man confessed to trafficking methamphetamine -- and then flushed the detective's recorder down the toilet.

The Ledger reported Saturday that Polk County deputies say they found 30-year-old Patrick Townsend driving with 32.4 grams of meth in his boxers during a Wednesday traffic stop.

Deputies say Townsend confessed, claiming he usually deals in much larger quantities. A detective recorded the confession but left the recorder on a desk. Authorities say Townsend grabbed it, hid it in his armpit and asked to use the bathroom, where he flushed it.

An arrest affidavit says that when the detective looked for the recorder, Townsend mocked him by saying: "Tighten up on your job, homie."

Townsend was jailed without bail Saturday, charged with meth trafficking and destroying evidence. No information on an attorney was immediately available.