TROOPER ACCUSED OF DRUG POSSESSION RELEASED FROM JAIL

Statewire

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A Minnesota State Patrol trooper charged with
possessing crack cocaine was released from jail on the condition he submit
to a chemical health evaluation.

Jeffrey Allen Carstens, 36, made his first court appearance Thursday on a
fifth-degree controlled substance possession charge before Hennepin County
District Judge William Howard.

Carstens spent Wednesday night in jail.

According to a criminal complaint, two officers approached a pickup truck
parked in the middle of a street with its hazard lights on. About five or
six men were standing around it.

When the officers put their spotlight on the truck, the men ran away and
the truck sped away. The officers pulled it over about a block away.

A single rock of what appeared to be crack cocaine fell from Carstens' lap
when he got out of the truck. Later, a field test of the substance was
positive for cocaine base and it weighed 0.2 grams, according to the complaint.

Carstens was not arrested on the spot but was instead released pending a
formal complaint. He was booked in the Hennepin County Jail several hours
later.

A chemical health evaluation is conducted to determine whether a defendant
would benefit from treatment.

The possession charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, a
fine of up to $10, 000, or both. If convicted, Carstens would also lose his
peace officer' s license, effectively costing him his job, the State Patrol
said.