{"id":26855,"date":"2026-04-26T10:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=26855"},"modified":"2026-04-26T10:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:13:14","slug":"thief-river-falls-man-charged-in-dwi-refusal-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/thief-river-falls-man-charged-in-dwi-refusal-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Thief River Falls Man Charged In DWI Refusal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thief River Falls<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Thief River Falls man is facing DWI test refusal and revoked-license charges in Pennington County District Court.<\/p>\n

Harold James Sayers is charged with second-degree driving while impaired-test refusal.<\/p>\n

He is also charged with driving after revocation.<\/p>\n

The case is filed in Minnesota\u2019s 9th Judicial District under court file 57-CR-26-245.<\/p>\n

The charges stem from an April 10, 2026, driving complaint in Thief River Falls.<\/p>\n

Driving Complaint On Highway 59<\/h2>\n

According to the complaint, an off-duty officer saw a blue sedan on Highway 59.<\/p>\n

The vehicle was allegedly unable to maintain its lane near Edgewood.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the sedan repeatedly crossed the fog line and center median line.<\/p>\n

The vehicle also allegedly crossed into the opposing lane of traffic.<\/p>\n

It then continued driving in the middle of the divided roadway.<\/p>\n

Near the Third Street bridge, the sedan allegedly struck the right-side curb.<\/p>\n

The vehicle later entered a turn lane without signaling.<\/p>\n

At Third Street and Davis, it allegedly failed to turn.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the sedan pulled in front of a pickup.<\/p>\n

The pickup driver had to yield to avoid a crash.<\/p>\n

\"MugshotHarold James Sayers<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Stop At Falls Liquor Store<\/h2>\n

The sedan later turned onto Atlantic Avenue.<\/p>\n

It then pulled into the Falls Liquor Store parking lot.<\/p>\n

Officers arrived shortly after receiving the driving report.<\/p>\n

Sayers was identified as the driver, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

He allegedly admitted he had been driving the blue sedan.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Sayers also admitted he had been drinking.<\/p>\n

Authorities reported slurred speech and an odor of alcohol.<\/p>\n

Sayers provided an identification card.<\/p>\n

He also allegedly admitted he did not have a valid license.<\/p>\n

Authorities later found he had an active Beltrami County warrant.<\/p>\n

Test Refusal Alleged<\/h2>\n

Sayers agreed to perform field sobriety tests, according to court records.<\/p>\n

The complaint says he had trouble following directions during testing.<\/p>\n

He was also seen leaning on a squad car.<\/p>\n

During a walk-and-turn test, Sayers allegedly started too early.<\/p>\n

He also allegedly failed to walk heel-to-toe.<\/p>\n

Sayers was arrested and taken to the law enforcement center.<\/p>\n

There, authorities read the implied consent advisory.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Sayers declined to speak with an attorney.<\/p>\n

Authorities attempted to obtain a breath sample.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Sayers repeatedly failed to provide a steady sample.<\/p>\n

He allegedly removed three test straws and threw them on the floor.<\/p>\n

Authorities deemed his actions a refusal.<\/p>\n

Charges And Possible Penalties<\/h2>\n

The DWI refusal charge is listed under Minnesota Statute 169A.20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The complaint also references Minnesota Statute 169A.25<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The driving after revocation charge is listed under Minnesota Statute 171.24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The DWI refusal count carries up to 364 days in jail.<\/p>\n

It also carries a possible $3,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Sayers has one prior DWI conviction from 2025.<\/p>\n

The charges are only accusations at this stage.<\/p>\n

Sayers is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

More case information may be available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Thief River Falls (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Thief River Falls man is facing DWI test refusal and revoked-license charges in Pennington County District Court. Harold James Sayers is charged with second-degree driving while impaired-test refusal. He is also charged with driving after revocation. The case is filed in Minnesota\u2019s 9th Judicial District under court file 57-CR-26-245.… Continue reading Thief River Falls Man Charged In DWI Refusal<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25559,"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":[1322,4232,16409,14771,14674,11690],"class_list":["post-26855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-driving-after-revocation","tag-dwi-test-refusal","tag-harold-james-sayers","tag-minnesota-dwi-case","tag-pennington-county-court","tag-thief-river-falls-dwi","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26855","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=26855"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26858,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26855\/revisions\/26858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}