Police: Tourist mailed meth to hotel so he could try it on vacation

A tourist told Key West police he mailed himself crystal methamphetamine so he could try the drug for the first time while on the tropical island, according to reports.

Robert Bare, 24, of Bullhead City, Ariz., admitted he mailed the package — meth wrapped in dirty socks and paper — to the Inn at Key West “because he was in town to party,” said police spokeswoman Alyson Crean.

On Feb. 8, an employee opened the small box, which was addressed only to the hotel, 3420 N. Roosevelt Blvd., and had a return address with the name Robert Dean Bare, who was not listed as a guest at the time. Hotel management called the police.

When Bare came to pick up the package, an undercover detective posing as a hotel manager handed it over. Bare took the package and was stopped by undercover detectives in the lobby. After a brief struggle, he was taken into custody.

Bare said he has never used methamphetamine before but wanted to try it, police said.

He was arrested on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest, and was released at 3:15 a.m. Friday after posting $19,000 bond.

DUI at mile marker 17

A Summerland Key driver who was driving on U.S. 1 with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit told police she knew she wasn’t sober to drive home but was only following her mother’s orders.

Raveh Marie Underwood, 23, was arrested at 1:13 a.m. Thursday after the Florida Highway Patrol said her 2004 Ford Expedition was swerving from side to side between mile markers 15 and 17 as she was driving home from her job at the Hogfish Bar and Grill on Stock Island.

“The vehicle was failing to drive in a single lane,” wrote Trooper J. Orbeta.

At first, Underwood said she had only had one beer earlier. Then she changed her story after police said they found 5.5 grams of marijuana and a tobacco grinder in her purse.

“She stated she had a couple of vodka drinks and was trying to sober up, however her mother wanted her to come home,” according to the arrest report.

Underwood’s blood alcohol level registered at 0.28 percent and then a 0.26 four minutes later, the FHP said, and she was jailed on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of marijuana and paraphernalia, all misdemeanors. Under Florida law, a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent is considered legally drunk.

Underwood was released from the Marathon jail the next day without having to post a bond.

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 8:48 AM with the headline "Police: Tourist mailed meth to hotel so he could try it on vacation."