On May 17th, 2025, at approximately 12:17 A.M., Ramsey Police officer Berthiaume was traveling westbound Highway 10 NW from Sunfish Lake Blvd. He observed a silver sedan in the right lane also traveling westbound Highway 10 NW which was not displaying a rear license plate. The vehicle suddenly slowed down to approximately 30 miles per hour in a 50 miles per hour zone. The officer conducted a traffic stop and eventually identified the driver as Ian Jennings Hopkins [DOB REDACTED], hereinafter the Defendant.
The vehicle, a Volvo S60 sedan was registered to an adult female B. D. Who was not present at the scene. The defendant initially verbally identified himself as “Jordan Charles Hopkins [DOB REDACTED].” As police were running computer checks on the name the Defendant provided, he exited the vehicle and admitted to giving them a fictitious name and told police that he had a warrant out for his arrest and “did not want to go to jail.” Records checks on Hopkins showed that his driving status was cancelled Inimical to Public Safety and he had a warrant for his arrest for second degree controlled substance crime out of Ramsey County.
Police had two juvenile passengers exit as they began to perform an inventory search, as the vehicle was going to be towed. As police began the inventory search, they located a glass pipe that, from their training and experience, appeared to be used to smoke narcotics between the center console and the passenger seat. Police also located a black handgun in a holster under the front passenger seat of the vehicle. After observing the handgun under the passenger seat, officers stopped the search and had the vehicle towed to the City of Ramsey's PD sally port, where they secured it until a warrant could be obtained.
Investigators later obtained a warrant to search the vehicle and searched the vehicle on May 19th and located a black and silver SAR Glock 9mm handgun under the front passenger seat that was loaded with 14 rounds and one in the chamber. Police also located a baggie of white powdery substance under the front passenger seat that field tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed approximately 1.5 grams. Police also located a brown portfolio on the back seat that contained a clear baggie of white crystal substance weighing about 15.4 grams, several 9 mm rounds, a scale, and two debit cards and a health card with the Defendant's name on them.
The firearm was transported to the MN BCA, where DNA, Fingerprint, and NIBIN ballistic testing were performed. The suspected narcotics were transported to the Midwest Regional Forensic Lab, where DNA, fingerprint, and controlled substance testing were performed. On December 3, 2025, police received DNA results from the BCA indicating that a swabbing taken from the grip and slide serrations indicated that DNA of a mixture of 3 individuals was discovered and that the DNA profile is greater than 100 billion times more likely if a mixture of DNA from Ian Jennings Hopkins and two unknown, unrelated individuals is the source than if a mixture of DNA from three unknown, unrelated individuals.
