A 53-year-old Appleton man was found hunched over in a parked truck at a Bovey gas station Sept. 29 with more than 67 grams of suspected methamphetamine in a backpack, according to charges.
Jason Michael Larson faces four charges in Itasca County District Court: first-degree drug possession, fifth-degree drug possession, driving after cancellation for public safety reasons and driving while under the influence of a controlled substance.
According to the complaint, an employee at the Balsam Store in Bovey called law enforcement on the morning of Sept. 29 after noticing a truck parked at a fuel pump for over an hour. The employee reported going out to check on the driver, who would not open his eyes but responded verbally and seemed agitated.
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A deputy from the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office arrived and found a white Chevrolet Avalanche parked at the pump with its windows partially fogged. The deputy saw only one person inside, later identified as Larson, hunched over the center console. After several attempts to get his attention, Larson eventually sat up and told the deputy he was waiting for his mother and sister and had been taking a nap.
The deputy noted that the vehicle was parked with the wrong side facing the pumps and asked Larson for his driver’s license. Larson said he did not have it and identified himself by name and date of birth. Dispatch confirmed that Larson’s driving privileges were cancelled for public safety reasons.
The deputy arrested Larson for driving after cancellation and placed him in the squad vehicle. After reading Larson the Miranda Warning, the deputy asked for consent to search the Avalanche, but Larson declined, saying the vehicle was not his. The deputy then requested a K9 sniff of the vehicle.
A K9 unit arrived and conducted an exterior sniff, with the dog alerting at the driver’s door. Deputies searched the vehicle and found about 67.61 grams of suspected methamphetamine in a blue backpack in the backseat. The drugs were split between two baggies, one inside the main compartment and another inside a metal throat lozenge container in the front pouch. Field tests indicated the substance was methamphetamine.
Larson also faces a felony charge of fifth-degree drug possession, a gross misdemeanor charge of driving after cancellation and a misdemeanor DWI charge for operating a vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance.
The complaint says Larson has a prior conviction for second-degree possession of cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine in 2016.
The charges were filed Oct. 1 in Itasca County District Court.
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