Wanted beardo armed with stolen 9mm handgun caught taking siesta in Mason City parking lot

MASON CITY – This sleepy crook thought a Mason City convenience store parking lot was the perfect place to pass out while on the lam, but an alert officer on patrol wasn’t fooled, and the groggy beardo’s siesta and hiatus from justice was foiled.

On October 6, 2025, at 12:40 AM, a Mason City police officer was on routine patrol near 9th Street and N Federal Ave. The officer noticed a car parked in the Casey’s convenience store parking lot at 813 N. Federal Avenue.

“The business was closed, and the car seemed out of place,” an MCPD spokesman told NIT. “The officer pulled in to check on the vehicle, and radioed the plate before approaching the vehicle, a 2010 silver Chevy Impala with out of county Iowa plates.”

The officer then approached the vehicle and noticed a person reclining inside the car, possibly asleep. At about this time, dispatch notified the officer via police radio that the car was entered as a stolen vehicle on October 5, 2025, by the Ames police department.

“Our officer backed off and waited for the calvary to arrive,” NIT was told.

And arrive, it did.

“More officers arrived and surrounded the car,” police told NIT. “Numerous attempts were made to hale the subject in the car. Officers could see the subject moving around inside the vehicle but he would not respond verbally or obey commands to slowly exit the car. This process lasted approximately 30 minutes before the occupant, 18-year-old Zakery Steven Dralle (homeless from central Iowa), finally exited the car and was taken into custody at 1:08 AM.”

Dralle (pictured at top) was prepared for a bad encoutner, evidently, as he was found with 9 mm ammunition in his pockets and a stolen 9mm handgun (and more ammo) was found in the car near the driver seat. Police said the gun was entered stolen on October 5, 2025, by Iowa State University Police Department out of Ames. Additionally, Dralle is subject to a current protective order that restricts him from possessing firearms.

Dralle was taken into custody and charged with the following crimes:

• Second-degree theft 2nd (stolen car)

• Fourth-degree theft (stolen handgun)

• Persons ineligible to carry dangerous weapons

• Driving while suspended

• No vehicle insurance.

Dralle was booked into the Cerro Gordo county jail after his arrest, at 2:06 AM. He awaits court appearances.