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A 34-year-old man from Oakland experiencing homelessness pleaded no contest to possessing a firearm, stealing a vehicle and identity theft after he was apprehended by Menlo Park police in August.
A resident on Lexington Drive in Menlo Park heard a noise just after midnight on Aug. 31 and saw a man reaching into her unlocked Mazda, according to prosecutors.
She called 911 and after officers searched the area, they found a black backpack on her lawn with a loaded handgun next to it, as well as a still-warm Ford F-150 truck. After searching the neighborhood, they found the defendant, Jonathan Garrett Reelfs, in a Port-a-Potty. When confronted, he dropped a container of Ice Breakers candies, an identical pack of which was found at the abandoned backpack. He had a warrant out for his arrest and a plastic bag of coins that had been stolen from the Mazda. Police later found that the truck had been stolen and discovered documents with Reelfs’ name in the backpack, according to prosecutors.
He pleaded no contest to possessing a firearm as a felon, vehicle theft, as well as identity theft from a previous case, on the condition that three pending misdemeanor cases by the District Attorney be dismissed and that he spend no more than 16 months in state prison.
His case was continued to Dec. 16 for sentencing and he remains in custody on no-bail status.