Caught With His Pants Down

Dropping your pants in a public place seems like a good way to get more attention than you want.

Michael Charles Fuge recently learned that firsthand, with jail time as a consequence.

Shortly after daybreak on June 6, a man was standing in an Upper St. Clair business' parking lot with his trousers apparently around his ankles, according to court records in the office of District Judge Robert Wyda.

“When officers located the male, his pants were up and he was standing near three backpacks,” Officer Joel Donovic of Upper St. Clair police wrote in the police report.

Among the items inside the backpacks was a plastic container with six white pills stamped with “R180,” wrote Donovic. That imprint is on Tizanidine hydrochloride, which is used in the treatment of muscle spasms and is not subject to the federal Controlled Substances Act, according to drugs.com.

Fuge, 20, who originally identified himself as Michael Nespoli, said he had a prescription for the pills but wasn’t carrying it.

Police also found a glass container that “appeared to have marijuana residue,” along with two .357-caliber pistol rounds and leg shackles, according to Donovic. At that point, Fuge and a friend, who was not charged, were taken to the Upper St. Clair police station.

Fuge said he had no identification, did not know his Social Security number and recently had moved to Pennsylvania from Oregon. He provided contact information for his mother, Stephanie, who confirmed his identity.

Police charged Fuge with disorderly conduct, for which he took a guilty plea before Wyda on Monday. Fuge was given time served, as he could not post the $50,000 straight bond placed on him June 6.

With the plea bargain, other charges were dismissed: providing false identification to law enforcement, possession of controlled substance and two counts of prohibited acts.