Former New Port Richey officer arrested on new drug charges

SPRING HILL — The former New Port Richey police officer charged earlier this year with a slew of drug charges was arrested again Thursday after deputies say they found him driving under the influence and carrying marijuana.

At 1:36 a.m. Thursday, a Hernando County sheriff's deputy stopped John Nohejl, 35, near Cortez Boulevard and Commercial Way, noting that his tag light was out. When Nohejl got out of his silver Kia, the deputy noticed his eyes were bloodshot, he shook while he stood and "he kept snorting his nose, as if he was having problems," a sheriff's report states.

Nohejl, 35, failed field sobriety tests, though a Breathalyzer test showed no alcohol in his system, the report said. The deputy found 0.01 grams of marijuana on the car's passenger-side floorboard.

Nohejl refused to submit to a urine test at the jail, the report states. He was booked on charges of driving under the influence and possession of under 20 grams of marijuana. He did not have bail set because he was already out of jail on bail.

On Jan. 17, reports state, Nohejl was pulled over and evaded Hernando deputies for a city block before he was finally stopped. Deputies found a hydrocodone tablet on the driver-side floorboard. They also found a bag of 27 tablets on the side of the road where he had tossed it, according to a news release.

After that arrest, authorities searched Nohejl's Spring Hill house and found bags, pipes, scales and a trace of cocaine.

Nohejl was suspended from the New Port Richey police department last April after he was found neglecting duties and sleeping on the job. Then he was investigated again in November, and authorities determined Nohejl had obtained hundreds of pills of oxycodone, OxyContin and diazepam and showed up to work at least one time under the influence, the investigation report states.

When asked about the pills, the report states, Nohejl falsely told other officers that he needed the pills after hurting his back in an on-the-job fall. He also passed drug tests using clean urine from other people.

He was fired from New Port Richey police on Feb. 12 after 13 years on the force.