John Hogan

WZZM-TV

CEDAR SPRINGS, Mich. — A homeless man who said he stole a car because he was tired of walking is facing trial on multiple charges after Kent County deputies found a handgun and components of a methamphetamine lab in the vehicle and his backpack.

Jay Allin Pluskhat was spotted driving a stolen 2002 Chevrolet Malibu last month on 17 Mile Road near White Creek Avenue NE. Kent County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Kelley nabbed Pluskhat Oct. 17 outside the Cedar Springs Meijer store, court records show.

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“He said that he was walking down the road, got tired and decided he needed to take a car,’’ police wrote in a probable cause affidavit. Pluskhat said he looked for a car with the keys in it and came upon the Malibu on 14 Mile Road near Shaner Avenue NE, court records show.

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The car contained a .40-caliber Glock handgun with ammunition. “Pluskhat admitted to finding a pistol inside the vehicle after he stole it,’’ a detective wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “He thought about throwing it out of the window but decided against it and instead stashed it in his backpack.’’

Police found the gun along with components to make methamphetamine, court records show. The components included two 20-ounce soda bottles “and the mixture inside the bottles were components to make methamphetamine.’’ Additional meth-making ingredients were found in his backpack, court records show.

Pluskhat also had methamphetamine on him when he was searched at the Kent County Jail, court records show.

Pluskhat, who turns 27 on Tuesday, Nov. 15, was ordered to stand trial in Kent County Circuit Court on three felony charges that could put him behind bars for up to 20 years.

He is charged with delivery/manufacture of methamphetamine, a 20-year felony, receiving and concealing a stolen firearm, a 10-year offense, and car theft, which carries a five-year term.

The Kent County Prosecutor’s Office has offered him a deal that would dismiss the car theft charge if Pluskhat pleads guilty to the other two charges. Under the deal, an additional charge of felony possession of a firearm would not be added.

Pluskhat, who is listed in court records as being transient and homeless, is being held in the Kent County Jail on a $25,000 bond. He’s scheduled to be back in court later this month.