On September 26, 2025, at 10:24 A.M., West Saint Paul police officers responded to a report of a single vehicle accident in the 1500 block of Charlton Street in the city of West Saint Paul, Dakota County, Minnesota. When the officers arrived, they observed a motor vehicle that had struck a tree and an individual later identified as the defendant walking away from the vehicle. Witnesses told the officer the defendant was the driver of the vehicle in the accident. The officer told the defendant to stop, but he did not do so.
The defendant stumbled while he was walking. The defendant’s speech was slurred when he spoke, he was sweating, and his pupils were very tiny. The defendant denied the car was his or that he had been in an accident. The defendant then said the vehicle was his. The officer walked over to the vehicle and opened the driver’s door. When the driver’s door was open, the officer observed a plastic bag containing a white powder in the driver’s door side pocket. The substance was later preliminarily tested, and the test indicated the presence of cocaine, and it weighed 2.47 grams.
On the floorboard in front of the driver’s seat was a second plastic bag, and the substance in that bag was preliminarily tested. The test indicated the presence of cocaine, and it weighed 1.30 grams. The combined net weight of the cocaine was 3.77 grams. The defendant was placed under arrest and transported to the West Saint Paul Police Department, and a search warrant was obtained to take a sample of his blood for testing. A sample was taken and tested at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
The test indicated the presence of cocaine in the defendant’s blood. Cocaine is a schedule II-controlled substance. The defendant was convicted of Driving While Impaired on July 13, 2023. The defendant appears to have several active warrants. Therefore, the State requests a warrant complaint be issued in this case.
