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Andrew Gillum, who in 2018 came within 34,000 votes of becoming
Florida’s governor, was discovered by police at a South Beach hotel
early Friday morning in a room with bags of possible methamphetamine
and in the company of a man who appeared to have overdosed on drugs,
according to a Miami Beach police report.


Police say Gillum, who was not arrested, was too intoxicated to
answer questions. An offense incident report says that officers
found three clear plastic baggies of suspected crystal meth on the
bed and floor.

Gillum, a former Tallahassee mayor and Democrat, issued a statement
Friday afternoon in which he denied using drugs.

“I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first
responders were called to assist one of my friends. While I had too
much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used
methamphetamines,” he said. “I apologize to the people of Florida
for the distraction this has caused our movement.”

According to police, Mejias told officers that he gave his credit
card information to Dyson to rent the room and planned to meet him
Friday evening. When he went to the room after 11 p.m., Mejias said
he found Dyson and Gillum “under the influence of an unknown
substance.”

Mejias, 56, said Dyson opened the door to Room 1107 to let him in
and then collapsed on the bed. He said Dyson was having trouble
breathing, so he woke him up. Dyson then vomited and collapsed
again, so Mejias said he performed chest compressions on Dyson and
called paramedics.

Mejias told police he saw Gillum, 40, vomit in the bathroom.

Police say Dyson was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center in stable
condition. They returned to check on Gillum, who was allowed to
return home “without incident.”

No arrests were made.

“At this time the incident is not being investigated as a criminal
matter,” a Miami Beach police spokesman wrote in an e-mail releasing
a copy of the report. He did not explain why.

Gillum, who was mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 through 2018, thanked
Miami Beach paramedics in his statement and said he’ll “spend the
next few weeks with my family and [would] appreciate privacy during
this time.”

Following his loss in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race to
Republican Ron DeSantis, Gillum has remained an important player for
Democrats in the state. His political organization is overseeing an
ambitious push to register or “reengage” 1 million voters before the November election, and he remains among the most prominent Democrats
due to a political analyst gig with CNN.

Attempts to reach Mejias and Dyson by phone on Friday were not
immediately successful. Dyson told Miami New Times that he has been
friends with Gillum “for a while,” but did not know anything about a wedding.

According to public records, Dyson is a registered nurse who lives
in Brickell. His Instagram account features selfies in scrubs and a
medical coat. The page also features numerous photos of Dyson
shirtless and rippled, on the beach, on boats or at night spots with
friends, including his fiance.

In Miami-Dade, Dyson has no criminal convictions but was arrested in
August on a charge of resisting arrest without violence. He got the
charge after he was pulled over for weaving in an out of traffic.

In an arrest report, a Miami Beach police officer said that while
handcuffing Dyson, “he began to resist removing his right hand ...
while attempting to turn around to face me. Mr. Dyson was then
pushed on the vehicle and ordered to stop resisting and to place his
hands behind his back.”

A ticket for reckless driving and the criminal charge of resisting
were later dismissed, according to Miami-Dade court records and his
former attorney.

Although the contents of the bags in the hotel room have not yet
been confirmed, crystal meth has made a resurgence in South Florida, particularly in Miami Beach, in recent years. The meth, police say,
is high-grade product being made by Mexican cartels.

“It’s a very customer-rich environment, with all the different
venues, events and parties for people to enjoy themselves,” a Miami
Beach street-crimes captain told the Miami Herald in 2017. “Crystal
meth will take the average party experience and magnify it tenfold.”

Miami Herald staff writer Martin Vassolo contributed to this report.

https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2020/03/13/andrew- gillum-found-in-miami-beach-hotel-room-with-suspected-drugs-police-
say/

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