Becker

NEW ULM — A 37-year-old New Ulm woman found across the street from Johnson Field Sunday morning faces three felony drug charges and another charge in Brown County District Court.

Renee R. Becker, 401 German St. N., faces felony and petty misdemeanor charges for possession of methamphetamine and marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The charges were filed Monday, Sept. 28.

According to court documents, New Ulm Police were called at 9:19 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 26 about an individual who seemed to be sleeping or passed out in a vehicle. Sgt. Charles Rasche arrived at 401 German St. N. and saw the vehicle facing west on 4th St. North, just west of German Street. Rasche recognized the adult female in the vehicle as Renee R. Becker from prior contacts.

Rasche noticed Becker slouched down to the side with a phone in the text mode. He also noticed what appeared to be flat, thin, crystal-like chunk on the passenger seat that resembled methamphetamine.

Rasche observed that Becker had slow, deliberate speech and dilated pupils and appeared to be under the influence of some sort of controlled substance.

Rasche also noticed a couple of small plastic containers that can be used to house narcotics, plus small bag used to house or transport narcotics.

Searching a purse, Rasche found three small butane lighters, a small eyeglass case containing a used meth pipe with a rubber tube attached. The pipe bulb was burnt, and the end with rubber tubing had white residue.

Rasche also found rolled-up tinfoil with burnt residue that smelled of marijuana, a small jewelry case with four small white pills with 377 inscribed on them, a piece of blue straw and a small blue plastic case with a small amount of marijuana in it, a small clear plastic tube with marijuana in it and a trace amount of a crystal-like substance in three small bags.

The pills were identified as 50 mg tablets of Tramadol Hydrochloride, a Schedule 4 narcotic requiring a prescription. Becker said she didn’t have a required prescription with them.

At the Law Enforcement Center, Rasche scraped the inside of the meth pipe and got a positive test result using a field kit. All three bags field tested positive for methamphetamine.

A bail hearing was set for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, on Zoom.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.