All of the conduct described herein occurred within the County of St. Louis, State of Minnesota, unless otherwise noted. On November 6, 2025, at approximately 2:19 AM Deputy Thorne of the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office responded to the Circle K gas station in White Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota on a report that there were two people passed out in an SUV and another person passed out in a pickup. Upon arrival, Dep. Thorne did not see a pickup, but located the SUV which was parked at a gas pump in front of the store.
Dep. Thorne approached the SUV and observed a male sitting in the driver's seat and a female sitting in the front passenger seat; both appeared to be unconscious but breathing. While Dep. Thorne and other officers were looking into the SUV with their flashlights, the occupants did not wake up. Dep. Thorne knocked on the driver's side window, and the driver, identified as Antoine Fickas, woke up and opened the door. When asked what caused him to pass out, Fickas said that he was just tired from helping the passenger, identified as LIZABETH ANN SKARJA [DOB REDACTED], move all day.
Fickas said they ordered a pizza about an hour earlier, and were waiting for it to be delivered. Fickas told Dep. Thorne that his driver's license was currently revoked. While speaking with Fickas, Dep. Thorne observed that he remained groggy even after waking up, and he was aware that both Fickas and SKARJA have been involved in drug use. Employees at the gas station informed the officers that the SUV had been parked there for about a hour and a half, that the driver appeared to be impaired, and that they tried to wake the occupants up when their pizzas were ready, but to no avail.
Fickas consented to perform field sobriety testing, during which Deputy Nichols observed indicia of impairment and placed Fickas under arrest. Dep. Thorne then informed SKARJA that he would be searching the SUV and asked her to step out. Prior to doing so, SKARJA rolled up the windows, and upon exiting locked the doors of the SUV. Dep. Thorne then performed a dog sniff around the vehicle with his K9 partner, Thor. Thor is trained to detect the odor of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. During the walk around the SUV, Thor indicated that one of those substances was present.
During the search of the SUV, Dep. Thorne located a small amount of methamphetamine inside SKARJA's belongings on the floor in front of the front passenger seat. SKARJA has a prior conviction for felony 5th Degree Controlled Substance Possession in 69-K2-04- 102079. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: Pursuant to Minn. Stat. 609.49, intentional failure to appear for duly scheduled court appearances may result in additional criminal charges, and in addition to any arrest warrant that may otherwise be issued by the Court.
