20-year-old man on felony release faces drug, gun charges | News

A 20-year-old man on bail on drug charges was arrested Thursday for possessing nearly 12 grams of methamphetamine and weapons in his car, according to a magistrate’s complaint filed in Superior Court.

Zion Gene Quitugua was charged with:

• Possession of a Schedule II controlled substance for unlawful delivery as a first-degree felony, with notice of commission of a felony while on felony release.
• Possession of a Schedule II controlled substance as a third-degree felony, with notice of commission of a felony while on felony release.
• Possession of a firearm without identification as a third-degree felony, with special notice of commission of a felony while on felony release.
• Possession/ownership of an unregistered firearm as a misdemeanor.

Police went to a gas station in Mangilao around 7:55 a.m. Thursday after receiving a report of an unconscious man, later identified as Quitugua, parked outside the station with weapons in his vehicle.

Quitugua was found asleep in the driver’s seat of a Toyota Camry with a silver pocket knife strapped to his right pocket, according to court documents.

A wooden rifle also rested against the passenger seat, pointed toward the ground.

Officers also observed a glass pipe containing a brown liquid in the center cup holder.

The police opened the car doors and removed the pocket knife and rifle for safety reasons, then woke Quitugua and asked him to put his hands up and get out of the vehicle. Quitugua obeys.

No additional weapons were found during the search, but police found a glass pipe with a bulbous end containing a brown substance in his right pocket, documents state.

In his left pocket, police found a clear resealable bag containing several small resealable bags, three of which contained a white crystal-like substance, documents state.

Also found in his left pocket was $472 in $50, $10 and $1 bills.

A field test on a sample of the white substance found inside the small bags returned a presumptive positive result for the presence of methamphetamine, the complaint states.

The bags containing the suspected methamphetamine weighed a total of 11.99 grams, broken down into the following quantities: 6.68 grams, 3.31 grams and 2 grams, according to the same documents.

Quitugua was arrested around 8:15 a.m. Thursday and transported to the police station where he agreed to be questioned.

He admitted to purchasing 12 to 14 grams of methamphetamine from a man named “Matt” on Oct. 9 in exchange for gold jewelry, according to the complaint.

Quitugua told police he received the $472 found with the resealable bags to do mechanical work and intended to give it to an anonymous friend who loaned him $500.

According to court documents, Quitugua also told police he found the wooden rifle on the side of the road, at an unspecified location, as he got out of his car to urinate.

He decided to take the rifle with him to hang on his wall as art, documents state.

Quitugua told police he did not have a firearm identification card and the rifle was deemed operational. The police checked the serial number. The rifle was not registered.

Haidee Eugenio Gilbert is editor of the Pacific Daily News. You can reach her at [email protected].