On March 14, 2026 at approximately 12:30 PM, Deputy James Stracek of the Carlton County Sheriff's Office was patrolling in the city of Cloquet, Carlton County, Minnesota when he observed a black Subaru Forester in front of him quickly speed up when he drove behind it. He was still able to observe the license plate, which he queried and determined that the registered owner, Rebecca Marie Paitrick, DOB 02181958, the Defendant herein, had a revoked driving status in Minnesota. The vehicle made a number of turns, and Deputy Stracek activated his emergency lights to stop the vehicle.
The vehicle stopped in the middle of the road, then turned into a driveway. Deputy Stracek spoke to the Defendant about her license status, which the Defendant then conveyed into a larger conversation. Based upon all of the information that Deputy Stracek gathered from his observations and the defendant's responses and behavior, Deputy Stracek began to investigate further. He requested and received permission to search the Defendant's vehicle where he located improperly packaged marijuana. Based upon the Defendant's two failures to appear or pay fines from the past year, he placed the Defendant under arrest for the improperly packaged marijuana.
The Defendant was then searched and it was found that she had two small baggies of crystalline substance, suspected to be methamphetamine. The packages both field tested positive for methamphetamine and had a combined weight of 2.68 grams.
