Florida police say an amateur pot peddler called 911 earlier this week after a greasy customer roughed her up and ripped her off. Deputies with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office responded to a distress call Monday night that led them to Mariah Massad, drug dealer, who told officers she was robbed of 10 grams of weed and $840 after a drug deal that originated on Facebook went south.
During her call to 911, Massad explained to the operator that a man dragged her across the parking lot and then swiped her bag. “It had all my money and a little bit of weed to be honest, we were gonna smoke but not that much,” Massad told the operator.
Now, typically, this is the portion of the story where we report how the dumbass who called the cops over a shady drug deal, if for no reason other than sheer stupidity, went to jail. However, that is not how this particular situation went down. Massad told police that a 17-year-old named Antonio Kleiss was the culprit behind the robbery, and a short time later officers were cuffing and stuffing the kid into the back of a patrol car.
Interestingly, while Kleiss’ unsavory actions earned him a trip to the Department of Juvenile Justice, police did not charge Massad, the drug dealer, with any crime. Although none of the weed or the money was recovered, police argued that Massad’s report, along with her injuries, were enough probable cause to take Kleiss into custody.
Yet, this twisted logic has some people, including Antonio Kleiss’ grandmother, Mary Kleiss, rather confused. “I didn’t understand,” she said. “Where are the drugs, where is the evidence, where is the 800 dollars cash? It doesn’t make any sense to me and it still doesn’t make any sense.”
“A drug dealer can just call the police and tell them I was robbed go get Antonio, go get Chris, go get Mary Kleiss,” she continued. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Witnesses described the scene as a “drug deal that went wrong,” but they do not believe Kleiss should have absorbed all of the heat. “It sucks for her to get robbed but if you’re dealing in an illegal activity it kinda comes with the territory and for her to get off scot-free I don’t think that’s right,” said Sarah Johnston. “I think they should both go to jail for the illegal activity.”
Kleiss was charged with felony grand theft of a controlled substance, which there is no physical evidence of, and felony robbery.
As for Massad, we would like to offer a piece of advice: quit making Facebook drug deals immediately. Because if police weren’t watching you before, they’re damn sure watching you know.
