{"id":72361,"date":"2026-11-08T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T02:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=72361"},"modified":"2026-11-08T04:15:53","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T10:15:53","slug":"lake-park-cenex-crash-leads-to-meth-dwi-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/lake-park-cenex-crash-leads-to-meth-dwi-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Park Cenex Crash Leads to Meth, DWI Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKE PARK, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2013 A Deer River man faces three criminal charges following a vehicle crash at a Cenex station in Lake Park.<\/p>\n

Authorities say investigators discovered methamphetamine in his truck and later confirmed drugs in his system.<\/p>\n

Earl William Kennicutt Jr., 42, is charged with felony fifth-degree drug possession and two misdemeanor DWI offenses.<\/p>\n

Crash Reported at Lake Park Cenex<\/h3>\n

According to the criminal complaint, emergency responders were dispatched to the Cenex station around 6:32 a.m. on July 2, 2026.<\/p>\n

Investigators identified Kennicutt as the driver who allegedly caused the collision.<\/p>\n

Kennicutt reportedly admitted that he had rear-ended another pickup truck.<\/p>\n

During the investigation, an officer noticed that Kennicutt appeared confused and had difficulty locating his insurance information.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Kennicutt was visibly shaking and appeared to have trouble concentrating.<\/p>\n

Driver Declines Additional Sobriety Tests<\/h3>\n

A state trooper asked Kennicutt to exit his vehicle for field sobriety testing.<\/p>\n

During the investigation, Kennicutt mentioned taking Viagra the previous night.<\/p>\n

The complaint states that an initial eye movement test showed no indicators of impairment.<\/p>\n

However, Kennicutt declined additional field sobriety tests.<\/p>\n

He reportedly explained that his legs and back were hurting from the crash.<\/p>\n

Based on the investigation, the trooper arrested Kennicutt on suspicion of impaired driving.<\/p>\n

\"Earl<\/a>
Earl William Kennicutt Jr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Police Discover Suspected Methamphetamine<\/h3>\n

Following the arrest, an officer conducted an inventory search of Kennicutt’s truck.<\/p>\n

During that search, authorities reportedly discovered a closed glass container holding a white crystalline substance.<\/p>\n

A preliminary field test indicated the substance contained methamphetamine.<\/p>\n

The substance initially weighed approximately 4.9 grams, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Investigators submitted the suspected drugs to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for further testing.<\/p>\n

State Laboratory Confirms Methamphetamine<\/h3>\n

Laboratory testing confirmed the seized substance was methamphetamine, with a reported weight of approximately 3.9 grams.<\/p>\n

Investigators also submitted a urine sample collected from Kennicutt for testing.<\/p>\n

The laboratory reported finding both methamphetamine and amphetamine in his urine.<\/p>\n

Methamphetamine is classified as a Schedule II controlled substance under Minnesota law.<\/p>\n

The complaint cites these findings as evidence supporting the drug possession and impaired driving charges.<\/p>\n

Three Criminal Charges Filed in Becker County<\/h3>\n

Kennicutt faces one felony count of fifth-degree controlled substance possession under Minnesota Statute 152.025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

He also faces two fourth-degree DWI charges under Minnesota Statute 169A.20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One count alleges driving under the influence of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n

The other alleges driving with a prohibited Schedule I or II controlled substance in his body.<\/p>\n

Each misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

The case is filed in Becker County District Court under number 03-CR-26-1924.<\/p>\n

All charges remain allegations. Kennicutt is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Deer River man faces felony meth possession and two DWI charges after police investigated a pickup crash at a Lake Park Cenex in Becker County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72362,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[11029,883,10237,7661],"trf_mt_town":[],"trf_mt_county":[29534],"trf_mt_topic":[29494,29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-72361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-drug-charges","tag-dwi","tag-lake-park","tag-traffic-crash"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72363,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72361\/revisions\/72363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72361"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=72361"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=72361"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=72361"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=72361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}