On January 7, 2026, at approximately 7:43 P.M., Brainerd Officers responded to a business located on the 100 block of Washington Street in the City of Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota, for a welfare check of a woman who appeared to be under the influence and acting erratically. Upon their arrival, Officers located the woman in the driver's seat of a vehicle that was running. Officers identified the woman as Cheryl Lynn Benjamin, [DOB REDACTED], the DEFENDANT herein, and learned she had an active warrant for her arrest.
While speaking to DEFENDANT, Officer Bryce Johnson noticed that she was showing signs of drug impairment and had her perform field sobriety testing. During the tests, DEFENDANT showed several indicators of impairment and admitted to being a user of fentanyl and methamphetamine, although not in several weeks. DEFENDANT was placed under arrest for driving under the influence of a controlled substance and searched incident to arrest. In her pockets, Officers located 2 tinfoil bindles containing suspected controlled substances.
One of the bindles weighed approximately 1.5 grams and field-tested positive for methamphetamine, which is a schedule II controlled substance. The second bindle weighed approximately.6 grams and field-tested positive for fentanyl, which is a schedule I controlled substance. DEFENDANT was transported to the local hospital, where Officer Johnson applied for and obtained a search warrant for a sample of her blood or urine. DEFENDANT provided a blood sample, which was sent into the BCA for testing. DEFENDANT was then transported to the Crow Wing County Jail, where she remains in custody.
DEFENDANT has a prior conviction under Chapter 152.
