A homeless Ellsworth man was found asleep in a stolen vehicle containing drugs and evidence he had attempted to steal money by fraud, resulting in a jail stay and felony charges.

Jamal Abdiaziz Mohamed, 30, was ordered to pay $500 cash bail Nov. 13 in Pierce County Circuit Court on felony drive or operate vehicle without consent, felony possession of narcotic drugs, receiving or concealing stolen property, possess drug paraphernalia and possess illegally obtained prescription charges. If convicted, the maximum penalty Mohamed faces is up to 3.5 years in prison and/or fines up to $10,000.

According to the complaint:

At 3:46 a.m. Nov. 12, River Falls police were dispatched to Kwik Trip (1200 S. Main St.) for a welfare check on a man sleeping or passed out in a vehicle. The man had been there for about an hour and staff were concerned.

When police arrived, they found a black Mercedes Benz parked on the building’s north side with a man, later identified as Mohamed, sleeping in the driver’s seat. The vehicle was running and otherwise unoccupied. Officers could see a blanket on his lap, along with two cut straws and a lighter. The straws had burnt, melted ends with a white powdery substance inside.

Officers knocked on the window and woke up Mohamed, who rolled down his window. He told police he was just sleeping before heading back to St. Paul. He advised he is currently homeless and tried to hide one of the straws in his right hand. Prior to exiting the vehicle, he folded the blanket over the other straw trying to hide it. When asked about the straws, he said he had nothing illegal in the vehicle and refused to let them see the straws. He became agitated as officers walked around the vehicle and saw a purple tube connected with another straw taped to one end in the backseat and a piece of folded up burnt tin foil on the driver’s seat.

After Mohamed was cuffed and place in a squad, officers searched the vehicle. He was arrested and during a search of his person, officers found a cut up straw with a burnt/melted end containing a burnt substance and a blue Bic pen shaft with residue. In the vehicle officers found burnt tin foil containing fentanyl, folded tinfoil under the driver’s seat and in the center cup holder, rolled up napkins containing a glass bubble smoking device with residue that tested positive for methamphetamine, a purple rubber hose with straw, a black backpack containing five unopened Suboxone packages, prescription pills, unknown pills, a black plastic tube container with white powdery residue hidden inside a Mentos gum container containing Oxycodone, an Android cell phone, a stolen checkbook along with a $500 check written out to Mohamed, and a suitcase filled with identifying documents from numerous people.

Officers transported Mohamed to Pierce County Jail and towed the vehicle to the impound lot. When speaking with the Mercedes’ registered owner, they learned the vehicle had been stolen. The primary driver told police she hadn’t driven the vehicle in a couple of months and had parked it in what she thought was a safe area of St. Paul. She left the keys inside the vehicle and didn’t know it had been stolen.

Police contacted the checkbook’s owner, a Burnsville, Minn. man, who told police his bank had alerted him that Mohamed had tried to cash a $500 check from his account. He didn’t know Mohamed and wasn’t aware his checkbook had been stolen. Police are working on contacting the owners of the other documents found in the vehicle.

Mohamed is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30.