On December 1, 2025 at approximately 1:19 A.M., officers with the South St. Paul Police Department were dispatched to a residence on Elrose Court in the City of South St. Paul, the County of Dakota, the State of Minnesota, on the report of a suspicious black truck occupied by two people parked in the back parking lot for several hours. Upon arrival, officers observed two black SUV’s parked next to each other. One was unoccupied with the headlights on and the windows open. A second vehicle was running, with the front windows open, and occupied by two people.
The occupants were observed sliding down in their seats as the driver pulled in and rolling up the windows. The driver was also observed quicky moving his hands around the vehicle, reaching into the area of the center console multiple times and appearing to be hiding or retrieving items. Based on the suspicious nature of the driver’s behavior and the area being a high crime area, officers utilized a PA system to give the drive commands to put his hands up. The driver did not comply and continued reaching around in the vehicle.
A command was given for both occupants to put their hands up and stop reaching. The driver rolled his window down and placed his hands out of the vehicle. The passenger did the same. The officer repositioned for a better view of the vehicle and for cover if the occupants pulled out a weapon. The driver was observed again reaching around the vehicle without his hands out of the window. He was commanded again to put his hands out of the vehicle and he briefly complied, but kept his hands behind the sideview mirror and would reach back inside.
The passenger complied with officer commands end exited the vehicle. The driver continued arguing with the officers and ultimately complied with officer commands to use the exterior door handle to open the door and exit the vehicle. The driver shut the car door and used the keys to lock the vehicle. Officers removed a canine and warned the driver that if he did not comply, the canine would be deployed. The driver ultimately complied with commands to get on his knees and was detained. Officers cleared the vehicle and confirmed it was unoccupied.
During this, officers observed a red, cut off straw on the ground outside of the driver’s door that appeared to have a white powdery substance. Officers also observed a Ziploc style bag containing a light-colored substance consistent with controlled substance on the driver’s side floorboard. The driver had been placed in the back of a squad vehicle while the SUV was cleared of occupants. 2 19HA-CR-25-2069 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 12/3/2025 Officers returned to identify him and he refused to identify himself.
The driver was asked out of the vehicle and searched. During the search, officers located a tied-off plastic bag containing a white powdery substance, consistent with controlled substance. While speaking with the driver, who was ultimately identified as JON ANTHONY MITCHELL-MOMOH [DOB REDACTED], herein the Defendant, officers had to continually give him commands to face the vehicle and he kept asking the same questions over and over, despite officers answering his questions moments before. Officers observed the Defendant’s eyes to be watery, he was speaking with a thick tongue, and there was a white powder in and around his right nostril.
