{"id":21315,"date":"2026-03-07T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=21315"},"modified":"2026-03-03T05:37:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T11:37:06","slug":"bemidji-man-charged-after-dwi-test-refusal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-charged-after-dwi-test-refusal\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Charged After DWI Test Refusal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bemidji, Beltrami County<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) A Bemidji man is facing new DWI charges. Police say he refused a chemical test.<\/p>\n

Court records name the defendant as Joseph William Folstrom<\/strong>, 44, of Bemidji.<\/p>\n

What police allege<\/h2>\n

The charges stem from a traffic stop on February 25, 2026. The stop happened around 9:47 p.m., according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Police say a Ford F-150 was linked to a hit-and-run earlier that day. An officer later saw a similar truck on Jefferson Avenue, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the driver did not stop right away. The truck went through a roundabout. It then turned into the Dollar General parking lot.<\/p>\n

Police say Folstrom looked confused and sluggish. The complaint also notes watery eyes. The officer reported an odor of alcohol.<\/p>\n

When asked about the earlier crash, Folstrom said the truck was involved, the complaint says. When asked if he hit another car, he said \u201cmaybe,\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Folstrom refused to get out of the truck. Police also say he tried to drink from a vodka bottle. The officer stopped him, the complaint states.<\/p>\n

Police say they found a methamphetamine pipe in his pocket. The complaint does not list a drug charge in this case.<\/p>\n

Investigators say Folstrom refused a preliminary breath test. They also say he refused field sobriety tests.<\/p>\n

At the police department, the complaint says he kept refusing. An officer read the Minnesota breath test advisory twice. Prosecutors say Folstrom still refused a breath sample.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph
Joseph William Folstrom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Charges filed<\/h2>\n

Folstrom is charged with first-degree DWI for test refusal. That count is a felony.<\/p>\n

He is also charged with driving after cancellation as \u201cinimical to public safety.\u201d That count is a gross misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

The complaint lists a maximum of seven years in prison. It also lists a $14,000 fine for the felony count.<\/p>\n

The license count lists up to 364 days in jail. It also lists a $3,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Prior record listed<\/h2>\n

Court filings also list several prior convictions. They include DWI cases in 2009 and 2021, plus other offenses.<\/p>\n

Case information and resources<\/h2>\n

The case is filed in Beltrami County District Court. The court file number is 04-CR-26-534.<\/p>\n

Criminal charges are allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/p>\n

Readers can review the DWI statutes online at the Minnesota Revisor\u2019s Office:\u00a0169A.20<\/a>,\u00a0169A.24<\/a>, and 171.24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They can also follow court updates through the Minnesota Judicial Branch public access site:\u00a0Minnesota Court Records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Bemidji, Beltrami County (trfnews.i234.me) A Bemidji man is facing new DWI charges. Police say he refused a chemical test. Court records name the defendant as Joseph William Folstrom, 44, of Bemidji. What police allege The charges stem from a traffic stop on February 25, 2026. The stop happened around 9:47 p.m., according to the complaint.… Continue reading Bemidji Man Charged After DWI Test Refusal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21320,"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":[346,1212,1224,4167,5264,770,772,3280,883,5246,5612,14583,11493,151,1314,4367,4366,6537],"class_list":["post-21315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-after","tag-beltrami-county","tag-bemidji","tag-bemidji-mn","tag-bemidji-police","tag-charged","tag-crime","tag-district-court","tag-dwi","tag-felony-dwi","tag-hit-and-run","tag-joseph-william-folstrom","tag-license-canceled","tag-man","tag-minnesota-dwi","tag-refusal","tag-test","tag-test-refusal","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21315","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=21315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21322,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21315\/revisions\/21322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}