Man found sleeping in front of gas pump in Fife charged with malicious mischief

The man slept behind the wheel of his car, which was parked in front of a fueling pump at a Fife gas station.

Since they couldn’t rouse the man, the station’s employees called police to move him along.

Court documents give this account of what happened next:

The officer who responded Tuesday said she saw drug paraphernalia and what appeared to be heroin in the man’s lap and a knife on the seat next to him.

Police woke the man and ordered him to put his hands on the steering wheel. The officer then helped the man out of his car and placed him in handcuffs.

He told the officer he was at the gas station to throw “that stuff out” and said the drugs had been in the car since he bought it a few weeks ago.

He denied using drugs and insisted he’d turned his life around.

“He explained that he had been at the casino all night and was really tired and wanted to take a nap,” according to the court records. “He had no explanation for why he was sleeping while parked in front of the fuel pumps.”

The man allegedly became agitated when the officer wouldn’t let him throw away the drug paraphernalia. On the way to jail, he kicked the back window of the patrol car so much it took two hours to repair.

Heroin and drug paraphernalia were taken from his car, records show.

Pierce County prosecutors charged the 39-year-old man with first-degree malicious mischief, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.

He was released on his own recognizance after pleading not guilty.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Man found sleeping in front of gas pump in Fife charged with malicious mischief."