A cast-off cigarette butt led to the stop, search and arrest of an Adel man early Sunday in West Des Moines.
Michael Douglas Schaefer, 30, of Adel was charged with controlled substance violation, second-offense possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to affix drug stamp, interference with official acts, providing false identification information and littering.
The incident began about 2:30 a.m. Sunday outside a convenience store in the 7200 block of Vista Drive in West Des Moines, where an officer of the West Des Moines Police Department observed Schaefer allegedly “throwing his cigarette butt on the ground” from inside a 2011 Ford Focus, according to court records.
The officer made contact with Schaefer and allegedly gave him “numerous commands to exit his vehicle, and he refused,” leading the officer “to open the defendant’s door and pull him out of the vehicle,” according to court records.
Schaefer allegedly told the officer that he did not have identification papers on his person or in the vehicle, according to court records, and he “then spelled his own name wrong several times” as the officer tried to identify him.
A probable-cause search of the vehicle disclosed “a baggie containing a large amount of a white powdery substance” that “field tested positive for cocaine,” according to court records. The weight of the cocaine was less than 100 grams but “over 7 grams.”
The search also disclosed “a small baggie of marijuana” and several smoking pipes.
Schaefer is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $16,600 cash or surety bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 18 in Dallas County District Court.
Schaefer was convicted of unlawful possession of a prescription drug in 2010 in Madison County District Court. He was convicted of first-offense possession of a controlled substance-marijuana in 2018 in Guthrie County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
