A man stopped for speeding and swerving in and out of traffic on Interstate 94 in St. Paul told a state trooper he was a parking enforcement officer studying law enforcement, then offered the trooper all the money in his wallet to get out of a ticket, according to a criminal complaint.

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St. Louis Park man, 23, accused of joining Islamic State, is returned to U.S. to face terrorism charges The complaint, filed Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court, charged Johnathan Richard Schmidt, 24, of Lake Elmo with a felony charge of bribing a public officer. According to the complaint, the trooper saw a vehicle Oct. 22 about 11:30 p.m. driving east on I-94 near Marion Street in St. Paul, swerving in and out of traffic and speeding past other vehicles.

The trooper followed and clocked the vehicle at 80 to 82 mph in a 55-mph zone, the complaint said.

When the trooper stopped the vehicle, Schmidt, the driver, apologized and told the trooper he was a parking enforcement officer and was going to school for law enforcement, the complaint said.

When the trooper tried to tell Schmidt the reason for the stop, Schmidt interrupted and said he knew it was for speeding, the complaint said. Schmidt then said he had been ticketed two weeks earlier in Woodbury and given a $200 fine for speeding that he was still trying to pay off, the complaint said.

Schmidt “said he is a competitive driver and wanted to be faster than other drivers,” the complaint said.

Then Schmidt offered the trooper all the money in his wallet if he could get out of the ticket, the complaint said. The trooper lectured Schmidt about offering money to a police officer, and Schmidt then reached for his wallet, the complaint said.

The trooper asked Schmidt if he was familiar with the bribery statute, and Schmidt said that he was and that he was sorry, the complaint said.

Schmidt could not be reached for comment late Wednesday afternoon.

Schmidt was a St. Paul parking enforcement officer, a civilian position, at the time of the incident. He has since resigned, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a police spokesman.

Mara H. Gottfried contributed to this report.