PORT ALLEN - A man was arrested after running from a traffic stop and trying to hide inside a storage shed behind a Port Allen home. 

The West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office said 42-year-old Ihab Mustafa of Baton Rouge was driving recklessly near the intersection of Court Street and Lobdell Highway. Deputies said Mustafa had a handgun and drugs. 

Officials said when deputies tried to arrest Mustafa, he took off. He was found hiding behind a house in a storage shed. He was booked for reckless operation, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, illegal carrying of weapons with a controlled dangerous substance, possession of Schedule I and II drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, simple burglary and resisting an officer. 

In 2022, WBRZ reported Mustafa was arrested for allegedly setting fire to his ex-girlfriend's apartment complex. His trial for aggravated arson is scheduled for August. 

Parish records show Mustafa has a drug arrest history dating back to 2006. In May of that year, he was arrested and booked for distributing marijuana, cocaine, hydrocodone, diazepam and illegal carrying of weapons with a controlled dangerous substance. He bailed out of jail and had a bench warrant out for his arrest twice for skipping court dates. All the charges were dropped in July 2009. 

Nearly 10 years later, Mustafa was arrested on more drug-related charges. An affidavit says officers watched Mustafa load a carboard box full of suspected weed into his car in 2018. He was pulled over for a window tint violation and a drug dog alerted to the box. Officers said there was nearly six pounds of marijuana, more than $2,000 in cash, an Adderall and three Alprazolam pills in the vehicle. 

He was booked and then bonded out. A year after the arrest, Mustafa pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of more than 14 grams of marijuana. He was sentenced to six months in prison per charge, but that was suspended and he was put on unsupervised probation. 

During a probationary hearing in June 2020, Mustafa's probation was 'unsatisfactorily' terminated. There was no reason listed in court minutes, but other documents show he was arrested at the beginning of that year for aggravated criminal damage to property and aggravated second-degree battery. Mustafa allegedly grabbed a golf club and beat a man's car before turning the makeshift weapon on the victim.

In 2022, Mustafa was ticketed for illegal window tint a few months before he was arrested for arson. Law enforcement said he set fire to the building when 50 people were in the complex.