A 39-year-old Cass Lake man kept shifting and fidgeting behind the wheel and was perspiring heavily despite an outside temperature of about 42 degrees before he told officers that foil found on him held fentanyl, according to the complaint.
A Leech Lake Tribal Police officer on patrol at about 12:40 a.m. Nov. 5 saw a vehicle fail to come to a complete stop at a Highway 2 stop sign, then noticed that its driver’s side taillight was not lit. She stopped it. The driver was Blaine Joseph Reich, the complaint says. Based on her training and experience, the officer suspected impairment by a controlled substance.
Dispatch told the officer that Reich’s license was cancelled as inimical to public safety and that his vehicle was required to have an ignition interlock device. He was driving without one. While she spoke with him about his license, he made more furtive hand movements and exaggerated physical movements, which she took as further signs of impairment. He was arrested.
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A search of Reich after his arrest turned up a piece of aluminum foil of the type associated with direct drug use. He told officers it contained fentanyl. Officers also found more foil in the vehicle and a modified pen often called a “tooter,” a device used to inhale controlled substances. It was on the driver’s seat. Reich stated spontaneously that he had “used,” according to the complaint.
He refused field testing. Officers got a search warrant and a blood sample was taken at an Indian Health Service hospital. The complaint does not give test results.
Reich is charged in Cass County District Court in a complaint filed Nov. 6 with felony driving while impaired by a controlled substance, which carries up to seven years or a $14,000 fine or both. The count cites a prior felony DWI conviction, which the complaint lists as entered in April. He is also charged with driving after his license was cancelled as inimical to public safety, a gross misdemeanor that carries up to 364 days or a $3,000 fine or both. No bail amount is printed.
