The Bradenton Beach Police Department, working in conjunction with Manatee County sheriff’s deputies, arrested Venice resident Bryan Peter Wells, 40, Aug. 12, after a traffic stop on multiple felony charges.
BBPD Officer Ryan Gagliano conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle displaying a tag associated with a seize tag order and a motorist’s name associated with two warrants for alleged probation violations.
The driver, according to a report, gave BBPD a name other than the one on his driver’s license based on the law enforcement database and said he had no other means of identifying himself.
So BBPD requested an MCSO unit with Rapid ID, a fingerprint scanner, which confirmed the driver’s identity as Brian Peter Wells of Venice.
After confirming the warrants for Wells, Gagliano placed the man under arrest.
During a vehicle search, police allegedly found four false identification cards, five credit cards registered to names other than Wells, an electronic credit card skimmer device, a small bag containing 4 grams of a substance that field-tested positive as methamphetamine, two meth pipes, $8,667, a laptop, multiple cellphones, multiple medical vials marked as steroids, gift cards and opened mail addressed to recipients other than Wells.
Wells was arrested and transported to the Manatee County jail in Palmetto. He faces the following charges:
- Possession of methamphetamine, which is punishable by up to five years in prison;
- Giving false information to a law enforcement officer, which is punishable by up to a year in jail;
- Possession of drug paraphernalia, which can be punishable by up to a year in jail,
- Driving with a suspended license, which can yield punishment of up to 60 days in jail;
- Five counts of possessing a fake ID, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Wells remained in custody at the Manatee County jail as of Aug. 16.
His arraignment will be at 9 a.m. Oct. 4 at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.