Man who drove car into Wal-Mart had a LONG rap sheet and pending drug case

[alp227]

Remember the guy who drove his car into a San Jose Wal-Mart and started assaulting people? A local newspaper exposes the extensive criminal history of the suspect, 33-year-old Haamid Ade Zaid:

At the time of the Wal-Mart attack, Zaid was being prosecuted in drug court for a gas-station crash in December, an October case in which he allegedly threw a chair through the window of a Santana Row pub while high on cocaine and a July 2011 incident involving a burglary he imagined.

Despite adding two more drug violations to his record since the December crash into the gas station, Zaid stayed out of jail for a simple reason: Until he allegedly clubbed Wal-Mart shoppers and an employee Sunday, all of his crimes were misdemeanor drug offenses where no one was injured.

Zaid posted $20,000 bail after his December arrest. He was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, but prosecutors say the amount of suspected methamphetamine officers found on him amounted to less than a hundredth of a gram, not enough for a valid lab test. That count was subsequently dropped, dashing the chance for a higher bail amount.

Deputy district attorney James Sibley said Zaid's previous offenses were characteristic of a drug abuser but nothing that would telegraph his alleged violence at the Wal-Mart.

"The system was doing what it was supposed to do. There was nothing significant that would flag something like this coming down the line," Sibley said. "He had drug problems, but a lot of people have drug problems and don't drive into Wal-Mart."

Sibley said that in light of the Wal-Mart case, prosecutors are reviewing footage of the December crash to look for any evidence that it might have been intentional.

In two cases in as many years, he called police to the neighborhood to stop home invaders who turned out to be a meth-induced paranoid delusion and ended up being the only one placed in the back of a patrol car, according to court documents.

Court records also allege a string of offenses by Zaid, many involving him high on illegal drugs.

[DollarBillHines]

1. Meth

It figures...

[Javaman]

2. at a young age Haamid Ade Zaid showed signs of things to come...

in kindergarten he was often scolded for driving his matchbox cars into other kids wooden block castles.