ST. PETER — A man was found guilty of obstruction, fleeing police and drug possession charges after a recent bench trial in Nicollet County, while being acquitted on drug sales charges.
Jacob Spencer Langton, 33, of Maple Grove, has a sentencing hearing related to 10 total charges on Jan. 21.
Langton was charged August 2022 after an incident at Kwik Trip in North Mankato during which police said he tried to flee from them in a motor vehicle, resulting in a struggle. The car Langton was in reportedly rolled into a squad car, according to a criminal complaint.
Court records state investigators found methamphetamine, counterfeit oxycodone, marijuana, cocaine and more suspected drugs or paraphernalia in the vehicle.
Police first approached Langton because the vehicle was linked to someone who had an arrest warrant. Langton didn’t cooperate with the police’s inquiry into the vehicle, concluded Judge Allison Krehbiel in her findings of fact on the trial.
“Defendant’s actions created a risk of substantial bodily harm or serious property damage,” Krehbiel stated. “Defendant shifted the vehicle into drive with the purpose of leaving the Kwik Trip station.”
While prosecutors proved Langton possessed the drugs, Krehbiel distinguished between that and proof of sales. There was a scale in the vehicle but no transaction ledgers or large amounts of cash, and the amount of substances wasn’t deemed greatly in excess of what a person could reasonably use.
“It is certainly possible that Defendant intended to sell some of the substances in the vehicle to other people, but the evidence does not rise to the very high level of beyond a reasonable doubt,” Krehbiel stated.