A 23-year-old Hastings man faces multiple felony drug charges after a routine traffic stop at a hotel parking lot in Inver Grove Heights led to the discovery of meth, hallucinogenic mushrooms and text messages suggesting drug deals.
Lucas Michael Peters faces charges of second-degree controlled substance sale, third-degree possession and fifth-degree possession.
According to the criminal complaint, an Inver Grove Heights police officer was patrolling a hotel parking lot late Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, when he spotted a vehicle with no front or rear license plates. The officer ran the Vehicle Identification Number and learned the vehicle was last registered in California in 2012.
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About 20 minutes later, Peters returned to the vehicle and began to drive away. The officer stopped him and Peters said he’d recently purchased the vehicle in Wisconsin. He provided a Wisconsin title, but a check showed it had expired in 2022. A check on Peters’ Minnesota driving privileges showed they’d been cancelled, the complaint states.
When Peters stepped out of the vehicle, the officer saw two Minnesota license plates tucked between the driver’s seat and the center console. Peters said the plates were for a different vehicle. He also admitted there was a pipe in the vehicle that he’d used to smoke methamphetamine about six hours earlier, according to court records.
Peters gave officers consent to search the vehicle. Under a blanket on the back seat, officers found a container with suspected methamphetamine that later tested positive and weighed 0.20 grams. In a shoulder bag, they found an electronic scale and numerous plastic bags of different sizes. Peters said the scale was for weighing drugs when he bought them so he didn’t get “ripped off.” He couldn’t explain the variety of plastic bags in the shoulder bag, the complaint says.
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At the bottom of the shoulder bag, officers found what they believed were hallucinogenic mushrooms. Testing at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension confirmed the presence of MDMA and psilocyn, with a net weight of about 17.8 grams or roughly 0.6 ounces. Officers also found $643 in small denominations in Peters’ wallet.
A passenger in the vehicle was identified only as “V.” Officers later obtained a search warrant for two phones seized from Peters. Text messages between Peters and V’s phone number from earlier that day showed someone texting V’s phone asking to “bump into” her and that they’d “need whole one” — which the officer recognized as referring to a whole unit of a controlled substance. Peters replied to the thread, and messages later that evening directed V to a room at the hotel, the complaint states.
Court records show Peters was charged in a separate Dakota County case in March 2025 with fifth-degree felony drug possession and third-degree DWI after officers found him asleep behind the wheel at a Hastings intersection around 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 12, 2024. He admitted to using meth the night before, and 3.5 grams of meth were found in the vehicle. His blood tested positive for methamphetamine and Peters also has a prior DWI conviction.
The second-degree controlled substance sale charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. He was charged by summons and a booking photo was not immediately available.
