Armed Felon Found in Parking Lot Unconscious on Heroin

A convicted felon was brought into custody Monday afternoon after officers found him passed out in his vehicle with drugs and a loaded 9mm handgun in the parking lot of a Salem tattoo parlor.

Joseph Ida, 25, of Woburn, Mass., was charged with possession of a controlled drug, felon in possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property (stolen firearm), transportation of drugs in a motor vehicle and carrying a handgun without a license after police found him at about 2:30 p.m. Monday in the Shogun Tattoo parking lot.

Ida was connected to the death of 20-year-old University of New Hampshire student Ellie Morin, who was found dead in his Windham home on Dec. 21, 2011. Police ruled the death accidental due to "acute drug intoxication."

A year later, Ida pleaded guilty to felony drug possession and manufacturing charges and was sentenced to a week in jail.

Salem Deputy Police Chief Shawn Patten said his department received a call Monday after about a man unconscious in a vehicle in the 326 South Broadway business' parking lot.

Responding officers determined the man — later identified as Ida — was under the influence of drugs and had a drug kit, used hypodermic needles and a small amount of heroin in the vehicle. 

Patten said the loaded handgun was found "hidden in his clothing." Officers traced the serial number on the gun to a 2011 theft report out of Maine.

Ida was held overnight at the Rockingham County House of Corrections until his arraignment Tuesday morning, during which a judge ordered him held on $50,000 cash or surety bail.