Minnesota woman faces drug charges

A Minnesota woman faces two felony charges of possession after the person she was traveling with called law enforcement when she became upset at an interstate parking area and asked to be left behind.

On April 5, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper was dispatched to the parking area at milepost 163 on I-90 to respond to a possible domestic disturbance. The reporting party allegedly informed dispatch he was traveling from Minnesota to Montana with a friend who was using drugs, had become extremely upset and wanted to be left on the side of the road.

According to the trooper’s affidavit of probable cause, he then overheard Crook County Sheriff’s Office advising one of its deputies that the female was using meth and attempting to get into other vehicles. Dispatch further advised that she had thrown objects in the ditch and was now wanting to leave with the reporting party because she knew law enforcement was on its way.

The trooper arrived on scene and located the female, Katie Johnson, who he describes as being in a very excited state, consistent with someone under the influence of a stimulant such as meth. The reporting party allegedly stated the same thing had happened a couple of weeks ago and she had been arrested on a warrant.

According to the affidavit, the reporting party claimed Johnson had told him she had had meth hidden in her bra during that arrest and it had not been found. He also allegedly informed the trooper that Johnson had walked across both lanes of the interstate and thrown what appeared to have been a meth pipe in the ditch.

The reporting party allegedly stated he had been watching Johnson through his binoculars to see what she was doing when she threw the pipe. The trooper checked the indicated area and reports that he located a uniquely shaped smoking pipe with meth residue inside it; the reporting party allegedly confirmed it was the pipe in question.

Johnson was placed under arrest and allegedly admitted to possessing some meth in her bra. Four bags of the substance removed at the Crook County Detention Center with a total weight of 2.2 grams, as well as three bags of marijuana with a total weight of 5.5 grams.

Johnson has been charged with felony counts of possession of marijuana, third or subsequent offense, and possession of meth, third or subsequent offense. She has known prior convictions in Waseca, MN in 2004, 2015, February 2018 and April 2018 and one prior conviction in Blue Earth, MN from 2006.