Man charged with fentanyl possession in St. Peter

A man is accused of illegally possessing fentanyl near public housing and driving under the influence of the narcotic in St. Peter.

Daniel David Schultz, 29, of Eagle Lake, is facing felony drug charges in the third degree and fifth degree for possession of fentanyl in a public housing zone and is charged with two misdemeanor DWIs, misdemeanor possession of cannabis in an open package in a motor vehicle and misdemeanor driving after revocation.

According to the charges, the St. Peter Police Department received a complaint on the morning of March 6 from an anonymous caller reporting that Schultz was selling fentanyl out of a burgundy Toyota in a St. Peter parking lot.

When police arrived at the scene, they found a red Toyota backing out of a parking stall within 300 feet of a public housing development. The driver, identified as Schultz, appeared fidgety, was talking fast and seemed to have difficulty holding his head upright. The responding officer believed Schultz to be under the influence and asked him to complete several sobriety tests.

Based on the results of the tests, the responding officer arrested Schultz and found several items of paraphernalia on his person. Schultz reportedly told the officer there was a little piece of fentanyl in the vehicle, leading the officer to conduct a search which found three blue pills and several crystal rocks identified as fentanyl and a small baggie of marijuana.

Schultz reportedly told the officer he was currently high on fentanyl after taking a couple hits of the drug while parked in the parking lot. A warrant was granted to take blood samples from Schultz, which detected the presence of both amphetamine and methamphetamine in his blood.

Schultz was previously convicted of a controlled substance crime in the fifth degree in Blue Earth County in 2022.