{"id":1846,"date":"2025-12-09T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=1846"},"modified":"2025-12-09T04:37:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T10:37:16","slug":"becker-county-wrong-way-dwi-chase-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/becker-county-wrong-way-dwi-chase-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Becker County Wrong-Way DWI Chase Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Becker County (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2014 A Middle River man faces felony and gross misdemeanor charges after a wrong-way driving incident on U.S. Highway 10 near Detroit Lakes.<\/p>\n

Charges Filed After Wrong-Way Driving Report<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors in Becker County District Court have charged 38-year-old Zachary Ryan Opdahl<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, a felony.<\/p>\n

He also faces a second-degree DWI charge for refusing a chemical test.<\/p>\n

Court records say the case stems from a December 5 incident on Highway 10 near Audubon.<\/p>\n

Deputy Reports Vehicle in Wrong Lane<\/h2>\n

According to the criminal complaint, a Becker County deputy saw a vehicle in the westbound lanes of Highway 10.<\/p>\n

The vehicle was traveling eastbound in the wrong lane around 9:42 p.m.<\/p>\n

The deputy estimated the speed at about 60 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

He drove alongside the vehicle and tried to get the driver’s attention.<\/p>\n

The driver did not look over or slow down, according to the report.<\/p>\n

The deputy activated his emergency lights while staying beside the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The complaint states the driver still did not react and kept the same speed.<\/p>\n

Multiple Attempts Made to Stop Vehicle<\/h2>\n

The deputy then moved ahead of the vehicle and entered a crossover lane.<\/p>\n

His emergency lights remained on.<\/p>\n

The vehicle passed him and sped up.<\/p>\n

The deputy caught up and tried again to stop the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the driver did not stop.<\/p>\n

The deputy then drove toward the vehicle head-on to force a stop.<\/p>\n

The wrong-way vehicle refused to stop or slow down.<\/p>\n

The deputy turned toward the ditch to avoid a crash as the vehicle went by.<\/p>\n

Other officers set up squad vehicles and stop sticks on Highway 10 near Detroit Lakes.<\/p>\n

The suspect vehicle finally slowed and stopped at that point.<\/p>\n

The driver was ordered out and did not respond at first, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

After more commands and another deputy drawing a pistol, the driver complied.<\/p>\n


\n\"Zachary<\/div>\n

Deputies Note Signs of Impairment<\/h2>\n

Deputies reported a strong odor of alcohol coming from the driver, who was identified as Opdahl.<\/p>\n

They noted slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes.<\/p>\n

Opdahl showed signs of impairment during field sobriety tests, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

He gave a preliminary breath test sample of .18 alcohol concentration.<\/p>\n

Opdahl was then taken to the Becker County Jail.<\/p>\n

Prior DWI Conviction Elevates New Charge<\/h2>\n

Court records show Opdahl was convicted of DWI refusal in Becker County on May 8, 2023.<\/p>\n

The prior offense within ten years is listed as an aggravating factor.<\/p>\n

Because of that factor, the current DWI count is charged as second-degree DWI, a gross misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

The fleeing charge is a felony that can carry more than a year in prison.<\/p>\n

The complaint notes a possible maximum sentence of three years and one day or a $5,000 fine.<\/p>\n

The second-degree DWI charge is punishable by up to 364 days in jail or a $3,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Opdahl remains in custody at the Becker County Jail.<\/p>\n

Drunk Driving Resources<\/h2>\n

Information on Minnesota DWI laws is available from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Support for victims of impaired driving can be found through Mothers Against Drunk Driving<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Becker County (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Middle River man faces felony and gross misdemeanor charges after a wrong-way driving incident on U.S. Highway 10 near Detroit Lakes. Charges Filed After Wrong-Way Driving Report Prosecutors in Becker County District Court have charged 38-year-old Zachary Ryan Opdahl. He is charged with fleeing a peace officer in a motor… Continue reading Becker County Wrong-Way DWI Chase Charges<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1940,"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":[2166,927,913,1117,959,2055,2172,768,772,914,1329,883,2171,2169,2170,2165,865,2168,2274,2167],"class_list":["post-1846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-audubon","tag-becker","tag-becker-county","tag-becker-county-district-court","tag-charges","tag-chase","tag-chemical-test-refusal","tag-county","tag-crime","tag-detroit-lakes","tag-drunk-driving","tag-dwi","tag-fleeing-police","tag-highway-10","tag-impaired-driving","tag-middle-river","tag-minnesota-crime","tag-wrong-way-driver","tag-wrong-way","tag-zachary-ryan-opdahl","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846","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=1846"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1941,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846\/revisions\/1941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}