Charges: Convicted Rochester Porch Pirate Busted With Meth
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Less than a week before she was scheduled to be sentenced in a so-called "porch pirate" case, a Rochester woman was arrested and charged after she was allegedly caught in possession of a significant quantity of methamphetamine.
A criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County Court says 41-year-old Cherish Ann Portillo was a passenger in a vehicle that fled from an Olmsted County Sheriff's Deputy when he attempted to make a traffic stop around 9 AM on Thursday along Civic Center Drive. The court document says the deputy followed the vehicle as the driver accelerated and began weaving through traffic on 16th Avenue Northwest before making abrupt turns through residential neighborhoods.
READ MORE: Rochester Porch Pirate Pleads Guilty, Drug Charge Dismissed
According to the charges, the vehicle was later located in the 1600 block of 4th Street Northwest, where witnesses provided police with enough information to identify the individuals seen running away from the vehicle as Portillo, 37-year-old Jay Anthony Ernst, and another man. The criminal complaint says Portillo was found on a nearby walking path and a search led to the discovery of more than 48 grams of methamphetamine in her belongings.
Portillo has been charged with second-degree drug possession. Her bail has been set at $25,000.
The Rochester woman is currently scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday for a conviction stemming from a series of porch thefts in northwest Rochester last December. In that case, Portillo entered a guilty plea to a felony mail theft charge in exchange for the dismissal of a related felony drug possession charge.
In that case, court documents indicate she was arrested in the company of Ernst, who is accused of driving the vehicle that fled from the deputy last Thursday. He is been charged with a felony count of fleeing police and is currently being held in the Olmsted County jail on $50,000 bail.
Ernst still faces felony mail theft and drug possession charges connected to the earlier "porch pirate" case.
More Minnesota News:
- $100,000 Cash Seized in Rochester Drug Raid
- Fentanyl Found in Mattress Leads to Prison for Rochester Man
- Probation for Man Who Led Trooper on 120 MPH Chase in Rochester
Meet the Minnesotans Who Won the State’s Biggest Powerball Jackpots
Gallery Credit: troy dunken
