{"id":16747,"date":"2026-02-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=16747"},"modified":"2026-02-05T05:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T11:58:23","slug":"gonvick-stop-waldal-faces-gross-misdemeanor-dwi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/gonvick-stop-waldal-faces-gross-misdemeanor-dwi\/","title":{"rendered":"Gonvick Stop: Waldal Faces Gross Misdemeanor DWI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gonvick, Clearwater County<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) Matthew John Waldal<\/strong>, 44, of Red Lake Falls is charged with third-degree DWI.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors filed the case in Clearwater County District Court on February 2, 2026. The alleged offense happened on January 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

Waldal faces a gross misdemeanor count under Minnesota law. Court records cite Minnesota Statute 169A.20, subdivision 1(5). The complaint says the charge is enhanced by a prior test-refusal conviction. That prior case was in 2020.<\/p>\n

What Police Allege<\/h2>\n

The complaint says a deputy stopped Waldal around 7:19 p.m. The stop happened in Gonvick. Police say Waldal failed to signal before turning onto Highway 92.<\/p>\n

During the stop, police report watery eyes. Police say Waldal told the deputy he came from a bar. He also said he had been drinking.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Waldal raised health concerns. He said he wears glasses. He said he has had concussions in the past.<\/p>\n

Police report doing field sobriety checks anyway. The complaint describes signs on an eye-tracking test. Police then used a preliminary breath test. They reported a blood alcohol reading of .106.<\/p>\n

Investigators later collected a urine sample. That sample was sent for lab testing. Those results were not listed in the complaint summary.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew
Matthew John Waldal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior Conviction Noted<\/h2>\n

Court records list a prior impaired-driving incident. It was a conviction for refusal to submit to testing. The case was filed in Polk County in November 2020.<\/p>\n

Bail and Next Steps<\/h2>\n

A judge set bail at $3,000 with conditions. Bail was set at $12,000 without conditions. The conditions include staying law-abiding. They also include no alcohol use. They also include random testing.<\/p>\n

The case is scheduled to continue in Clearwater County District Court.<\/p>\n

DWI cases can move through several hearings. Charging documents are allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent in court.<\/p>\n

For more, see Minnesota\u2019s DWI law in Statute 169A.20<\/a>. You can also review the third-degree DWI statute, Statute 169A.26<\/a>. General court resources are on the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a> site.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gonvick, Clearwater County (trfnews.i234.me) Matthew John Waldal, 44, of Red Lake Falls is charged with third-degree DWI. Prosecutors filed the case in Clearwater County District Court on February 2, 2026. The alleged offense happened on January 31, 2026. Waldal faces a gross misdemeanor count under Minnesota law. Court records cite Minnesota Statute 169A.20, subdivision 1(5).… Continue reading Gonvick Stop: Waldal Faces Gross Misdemeanor DWI<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[4008,10985,772,883,960,2156,12471,7854,5274,9679,12472,8842,10253,5698,10644,1294,1222,1326,12493],"class_list":["post-16747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-bail-conditions","tag-clearwater-county","tag-crime","tag-dwi","tag-faces","tag-gonvick","tag-gonvick-mn","tag-gross","tag-gross-misdemeanor","tag-highway-92","tag-matthew-john-waldal","tag-minnesota-statute-169a-20","tag-minnesota-statute-169a-26","tag-misdemeanor","tag-preliminary-breath-test","tag-red-lake-falls","tag-stop","tag-third-degree-dwi","tag-waldal","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16762,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747\/revisions\/16762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}