On 1/2/26 at about 1051 hours, Blaine police responded to a report of a motor vehicle theft. The vehicle’s owner, KAP, said that sometime overnight someone stole his 2002 Ford Escape (MN/JAS524) from his driveway. KAP believed that his daughter, Shalena Marie PETERSON [DOB REDACTED], may have taken it. He said PETERSON had been staying with him for a few days because she was in a bad place. KAP said he had never given PETERSON permission to use the vehicle. When he woke up, all of PETERSON’s stuff was gone, the Ford was missing, and the Ford’s spare key that he keeps hidden in his bedroom was gone.
On 1/2/26 at about 1854 hours, St. Paul Police responded to Lexington Pkwy and University Ave W on a report that a Ford Escape (MN/JAS524) was driving erratically, cutting people off, and made a U-turn into oncoming traffic. While en route, police learned that the vehicle had been reported stolen out of Blaine. At about 1931 hours, police found the vehicle in the White Castle drive-thru at [ADDRESS REDACTED] W, in St. Paul, Ramsey County. The driver was a white female who was laying back in the driver's seat.
Police blocked the vehicle in and ordered the driver out. The driver, later identified as PETERSON, was initially non-compliant, but eventually exited the vehicle and shuffled her feet as she moved toward officers. When police grabbed her arms, PETERSON immediately went limp and fell to the ground. PETERSON had slurred speech, watery eyes, was uneasy on her feet, and refused to perform standardized field sobriety testing. While escorting PETERSON to a squad, an officer detected the odor of a consumed alcoholic beverage coming from her person.
The officer also saw that the Ford’s front driver's side tire was off the wheel and it appeared PETERSON had been driving on the rim. After being Mirandized, PETERSON said she had been at her grandmother's house in Blaine with her father, KAP, who also lives there. She initially said she took the vehicle without KAP’s permission but then said she got permission. She said she left Blaine with the vehicle at about noon. During an inventory of the vehicle, police found about 2g of marijuana and debit cards belonging to KAP in a purse on the passenger seat, a half bottle of Svedka vodka, and a partial bottle of orange juice.
In a post-Miranda statement, PETERSON said the vehicle belonged to her father; KAP. She said she got out of treatment recently for methamphetamine use and alcohol abuse and had been staying with KAP. PETERSON claimed she had permission to drive the vehicle. She said she did not know what day it was so she didn’t know when she last smoked methamphetamine. She claimed she bought the vodka earlier in the afternoon and had consumed two shots of it. At the LEC, PETERSON agreed to provide a DMT breath sample.
