On June 2, 2026, at approximately 1631 hours, Minnesota State Patrol responded to a reporting party who stated they observed a vehicle with MN license plate [PLATE REDACTED], driving erratically on the road. The reporting party stated the driver's head was "going all over" while driving and driving westbound into the Lowry Hill Tunnel. Officers observed the same vehicle driving westbound on 94 from Washington Avenue, Minneapolis, Hennepin County. Officers observed the driver braking for no reason multiple times, having jerky steering, along with swerving and weaving within their lane lines.
The driver then began to drive on top of the right-side lane lines multiple times. Officers activated their emergency lights and initiated a traffic stop. The driver initially showed no indicators that they saw the lights and were going to pull over, they had to activate their emergency sirens to get the vehicle to stop. The driver was later identified as JULIE MARIE ERICKSON, Defendant herein. Officers observed the Defendant reaching completely onto the passenger floorboard of the vehicle and moving around throughout the front area of the vehicle.
Officers approached the passenger side where they made contact with the Defendant. The Defendant continued to dig around the vehicle and was flailing around with abnormally exaggerated movements. The Defendant's pupils were constricted and her speech was accelerated. Officers asked the Defendant to step out of the vehicle where she continued to be unable to stand or sit still while exhibited flailing limbs and exaggerated movements. She was grinding her jaw, clenching her fists, and observed a rigid body appearance.
The Defendant stated that she had last used meth “a week ago maybe” and that she used to be a heroin addict. The Defendant denied using any drugs that day, however, in Officer's training and experience, her behavior was indicative of being under the influence of a narcotic. The Defendant continued to act erratically during field sobriety testing indicating she was under the influence of a narcotic and blew a.000 on the PBT. The Defendant stated she typically smokes or injects methamphetamine; she also exhibited injection marks in her elbow joints.
Officers placed the Defendant under arrest and secured a search warrant for a fluid sample. In an inventory search, officers located drug paraphernalia and suspected narcotics in the Defendant's purse. Officers located bindles that contained 0.56 grams of FTP fentanyl, 0.45 grams of FTP fentanyl, and 0.45 grams of fentanyl. Officers also located 0.56 grams of FTP methamphetamine. The results of the fluid sample are pending, and this complaint may be amended to add A DWI count of body containing a controlled substance.
The Defendant is currently in custody.
