Minnesota: Land of 10,000 second chances to create more victims
By Crime Watch MN, Jan. 1, 2023
A Minneapolis man with at least six prior felony convictions who was out on bail on at least five other pending felony charges in two cases has been charged in a new case with five more felonies.
New Brighton police posted on social media Thursday about an arrest made following a traffic stop that had been initiated after they got a warrant hit for the registered owner of the vehicle.
During the stop, officers detected an odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The driver provided a fake name before attempting to flee and then struck the squad. The driver proceeded to fight with officers and was reaching under the driver’s seat before being taken into custody, charges say.
A search of the vehicle found a stolen firearm under the driver’s seat (top photo), suspected marijuana, nearly 7 grams of suspected cocaine, 278 suspected “M30” pills weighing over 29 grams that field tested positive for fentanyl, and a black face mask.
The driver, Richard Alan Staples, Jr., 29, of the Marcy Holmes neighborhood in southeast Minneapolis was arrested during the stop.
Staples was charged in Ramsey County District Court Friday with five felonies: two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm/ammunition; third- and fifth-degree drug possession; and fleeing police in a motor vehicle. Staples made a first court appearance on Friday and remains in custody on $100,000 bail or $10,000 conditional release cash bail.
CRIMINAL HISTORY
Staples has 14 prior convictions including six felony convictions, several of which preclude him from possessing firearms including third-degree assault, first-degree aggravated robbery, and two fifth-degree drug convictions.
Staples was also wanted on warrants at the time of his arrest in at least two open cases that stretch back to April and August 2019 in Benton County. Staples is charged with five felonies between the two cases, both involving charges of illegal possession of a firearm, and one case additionally involves three counts of first-degree sale/possession of a controlled substance. (More on these cases, below).
Staples was convicted in Clay County on April 17, 2019, on a charge of fifth-degree controlled substance. Staples had been found during a warrant execution with a digital scale, baggies commonly used to package and sell narcotics, a large bag of 14 grams of a substance that field-tested positive for cocaine, approximately 427 grams of marijuana, a loaded .22 caliber handgun, and 45 rounds of 9mm ammunition. Although Staples was prohibited from possessing firearms due to prior convictions, a plea deal dismissed two other felony charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and second-degree possession of over 10 grams of cocaine while in possession of a firearm.
Despite several prior felony convictions and another open drug case in Stearns County at the time, Staples was given credit for 32 days spent in jail and was placed on probation in the case.
SIX DAYS LATER
Six days later, on April 23, 2019, Staples was hospitalized in St. Cloud/Benton County following a planned drug deal robbery that went wrong when he was shot in the head by the person he was trying to rob, charges say. Staples was charged in the case about a month later with three counts of first-degree drugs and illegal firearm possession (one of the above-referenced Benton County warrant cases).
While wanted on warrant in that case, Staples was arrested on Aug. 1, 2019, at a St. Cloud apartment building after someone called 911 to report that Staples had a gun in his waistband, and they knew he was wanted on the drug/weapons warrant. Staples was found with a .40 caliber firearm upon his arrest and was subsequently charged with illegal gun possession (the other above-referenced Benton County warrant case).
Staples has been wanted on warrants in the two Benton County cases several times. Most recently, he’d been wanted in both cases since Sept. 2022 for failure to comply with the conditions of his bail release.
If Staples manages to post bond in the new Ramsey County case, he would likely be transferred to Benton County on the two open warrants.
In the meantime, Staples has a next court hearing scheduled for Jan. 9 on the new Ramsey County charges.
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