{"id":21721,"date":"2026-03-10T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=21721"},"modified":"2026-03-08T16:04:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T21:04:50","slug":"bemidji-man-charged-after-dwi-test-refusal-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-charged-after-dwi-test-refusal-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Charged After DWI Test Refusal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bemidji, Minnesota<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Bemidji man is facing felony and gross misdemeanor charges after a traffic stop tied to a hit-and-run investigation, according to a criminal complaint filed in Beltrami County District Court.<\/p>\n

The complaint names Joseph William Folstrom<\/strong>, 44, as the defendant. He is charged with first-degree DWI, refusal to submit to a chemical test<\/strong>, and driving after cancellation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Charges Filed In Beltrami County<\/h2>\n

Court records say the case was filed in the Minnesota District Court<\/a> for Beltrami County. The complaint lists the incident date as February 25, 2026.<\/p>\n

The felony count accuses Folstrom of refusing a chemical test after allegedly driving or being in control of a motor vehicle. The second count accuses him of driving after his license was canceled, as inimical to public safety.<\/p>\n

State law on DWI test refusal can be found under Minnesota Statute 169A.20<\/a>. The driving cancellation law appears under Minnesota Statute 171.24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

What The Complaint Alleges<\/h2>\n

According to the complaint, police stopped a distinct Ford F-150 at about 9:47 p.m. in Bemidji. Officers had been looking for the truck after a reported hit-and-run earlier that day.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the pickup continued through a roundabout before stopping in the Dollar General parking lot. Police then identified the driver as Folstrom.<\/p>\n

Investigators wrote that Folstrom appeared confused and lethargic. The complaint also says his eyes were watery and that officers smelled alcohol.<\/p>\n

When asked about the earlier crash, Folstrom allegedly said the vehicle had been involved. When asked if he hit another vehicle, the complaint says he answered, \u201cmaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The complaint states Folstrom refused to get out of the truck at first. It also says he grabbed a vodka bottle and tried to drink from it. Officers then removed him from the vehicle, according to the filing.<\/p>\n

Police also reported finding a methamphetamine pipe in his pocket. The complaint says Folstrom refused a preliminary breath test and refused field sobriety testing.<\/p>\n

After being taken to a testing room, Folstrom was read the Minnesota Breath Test Advisory twice, the complaint says. Investigators allege he then refused to provide a breath sample and gave no reason for refusing.<\/p>\n

Prior Convictions Listed<\/h2>\n

The complaint also lists earlier convictions tied to Folstrom\u2019s record. Those listed convictions include prior DWI cases in Beltrami and Dakota counties. The filing also mentions earlier convictions for fleeing a peace officer and third-degree assault.<\/p>\n

Those prior convictions are important because they can affect how Minnesota charges felony-level DWI cases.<\/p>\n

Folstrom now faces the charges listed in the complaint. A criminal complaint contains allegations. It is not a conviction.<\/p>\n

For more on Minnesota court records, visit the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>. Information about local law enforcement is available through the City of Bemidji<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Bemidji, Minnesota (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Bemidji man is facing felony and gross misdemeanor charges after a traffic stop tied to a hit-and-run investigation, according to a criminal complaint filed in Beltrami County District Court. The complaint names Joseph William Folstrom, 44, as the defendant. He is charged with first-degree DWI, refusal to submit to a… 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":[346,1633,13619,1224,10084,14766,5264,770,772,2891,883,5246,12359,14583,151,14767,4367,4366],"class_list":["post-21721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-after","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-beltrami-county-news","tag-bemidji","tag-bemidji-dwi","tag-bemidji-news","tag-bemidji-police","tag-charged","tag-crime","tag-driving-after-cancellation","tag-dwi","tag-felony-dwi","tag-hit-and-run-investigation","tag-joseph-william-folstrom","tag-man","tag-minnesota-dwi-refusal","tag-refusal","tag-test","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21721","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=21721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21723,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21721\/revisions\/21723"}],"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=21721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}