Published on Friday, March 30, 2007
in the Melbourne Florida Today

Fugitive held after drug-filled RV stopped

A convicted murderer wanted on a probation violation was in custody today on charges that he was making methamphetamine and growing marijuana in his fifth wheel RV camper.

Charles Leon McComas, 45, was being held without bond at the Brevard County Jail.

He was charged with violation of probation for second-degree murder, several methamphetamine-related charges, possession of a firearm by a felon, cultivation of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and introduction of contraband into a jail.

Charles Davidson, Administrator for the 3rd Circuit in Suwannee County, confirmed that McComas is a fugitive who fled supervision Feb. 2.

We know hes absconded and weve been trying to locate him, Davidson said.

A trooper with the Florida Highway Patrol pulled McComas over on Interstate 95 near Mims around 3:50 p.m. Wednesday for a faulty equipment violation, FHP spokeswoman Kim Miller said.

His camper was overweighted, she said.

McComas was driving a 1989 Maroon Z71 pickup truck pulling a 1975 mobile home camper.

A second trooper came up and helped the first. After the driver gave them several aliases, they found the driver had an outstanding warrant in Suwannee County for violation of probation on a second-degree murder conviction and arrested him, she said.

The trooper found evidence of manufacturing methamphetamine in the RV camper, secured the area and called the Brevard County Sheriffs Office to assist with the clean-up of the methamphetamine equipment and chemicals.

Were not equipped to handle methamphetamine site cleanups, Miller said.

Sheriffs agents came and moved the trailer to the southbound rest area at mile marker 228 in Mims. The rest area was evacuated and blocked for several hours while crews searched the camper, Miller said.

Further search of the 29-year-old camper found chemicals and equipment used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, two rifles, ammunition, four marijuana plants growing in the bathtub of the camper, and other drug paraphernalia.

Sheriffs agents made the methamphetamine arrest. While McComas was being booked at the county jail in Sharpes, a baggy of finished methamphetamine fell from his armpit, deputies said.

McComas, also spelled as McCamos in the state correctional system, was sentenced in 1991 to 12 years in prison and 15 years of probation on a second-degree murder conviction. He served eight years in prison, then was released with 10 years of community supervision.

He violated his parole by getting arrested on a battery charge, Sgt. J.J. Woolsey of the Brevard Sheriffs Office said.

According to him, hes been hiding out in Alabama because of this violation of probation, Woolsey said.

He would occasionally come back into Suwannee County and Brevard County where he has roots, Woolsey said.

McComas has a Cocoa address on his Florida drivers license, Woolsey said.

Brevard County Clerk of Court records show he was arrested in 2004 on a battery charge. The State Attorney filed charges but he was never brought to trial.

Woolsey described McComas as a transient and a modern-day survivalist, who lived in his camper and used the hunting rifles to shoot game.

The quantity of meth and marijuana were enough to suggest it was for personal use, Woolsey said.

"I wouldnt call him a Rambo, because hes kind of wiry, Woolsey said. But hes self-sufficient as far as his living conditions.

McComas must stand trial here on the methamphetamine and marijuana cultivation charges before hell be extradited to Suwannee County on the probation violation charge.

Woolsey said McComas was cooperative, but not very talkative.