A 32-year-old Fairmont woman told a deputy she had a firearm permit and a firearm in her purse while he waited for a K-9 unit to arrive at a Nov. 2 traffic stop in Winnebago, according to the complaint.
The deputy had pulled her over at about 7:30 a.m. for failing to signal a turn more than 100 feet before turning. She was the driver and the only person in the vehicle. The deputy wrote that she had bloodshot eyes and seemed to avoid eye contact. She denied having drugs in the vehicle. He also found that the registration had expired in May 2026.
The deputy found the firearm in her purse and secured it. When the dog arrived it indicated narcotics in the vehicle. A search turned up several syringes, a razor blade and an orange-brown crystalline substance that the complaint says field tested positive for both methamphetamine and THC and weighed 0.57 grams.
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She was arrested. The complaint says she showed multiple signs of intoxication during field sobriety tests. A warrant was granted for a blood or urine sample, but the hospital in Blue Earth could not collect blood. She gave a urine sample instead and it was sent to the BCA, with results pending. A preliminary urine test also indicated methamphetamine, the complaint says.
Ciara Kay Gaston is charged in Faribault County District Court in a complaint filed Nov. 3 with fifth-degree drug possession, a felony that carries up to five years or a $10,000 fine or both. Two misdemeanors, carrying a pistol while under the influence of a controlled substance and fourth-degree DWI, each carry up to 90 days or a $1,000 fine or both.
