{"id":26873,"date":"2026-04-26T10:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=26873"},"modified":"2026-04-26T10:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T15:48:11","slug":"bemidji-man-faces-felony-drug-dwi-charge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-faces-felony-drug-dwi-charge\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Faces Felony Drug DWI Charge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Bemidji<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Bemidji man is facing a felony DWI charge after a traffic stop in Beltrami County.<\/p>\n<p>Joseph Robert Fear is charged in Beltrami County District Court with first-degree DWI.<\/p>\n<p>The charge involves allegedly operating a motor vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance in his body.<\/p>\n<p>The case is filed in Minnesota\u2019s 9th Judicial District under court file 04-CR-26-793.<\/p>\n<h2>Traffic Stop On Bemidji Avenue<\/h2>\n<p>According to the complaint, the stop happened on April 4, 2026, at about 11:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>A Beltrami County deputy was on patrol on Bemidji Avenue North.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says a vehicle was stopped because its license plate light was not working.<\/p>\n<p>The driver was identified as Joseph Robert Fear.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities reported that Fear showed signs of recent drug use.<\/p>\n<p>Those signs allegedly included dilated pupils and glassy eyes.<\/p>\n<p>A driving record check also showed an ignition interlock restriction, according to court documents.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center; margin: 25px 0;\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: inline-block;\" src=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/FearJoseph.png\" alt=\"Mugshot of Joseph Robert Fear\" \/><em>Joseph Robert Fear<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Complaint Alleges Methamphetamine Admission<\/h2>\n<p>Authorities asked Fear to perform field sobriety tests.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says he had balance problems during testing.<\/p>\n<p>Those issues were noted during the walk-and-turn test.<\/p>\n<p>They were also reported during the one-leg-stand test.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says Fear estimated 30 seconds in 38 actual seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities also allege Fear admitted to using methamphetamine a few hours before driving.<\/p>\n<p>Fear was then placed under arrest, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n<p>A search warrant was later obtained for a blood or urine sample.<\/p>\n<p>The sample was collected and sent for analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Testing information is commonly handled by the <a href=\"https:\/\/dps.mn.gov\/divisions\/bca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Felony First-Degree DWI Charge<\/h2>\n<p>Fear is charged under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/169A.20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Statute 169A.20<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint also references <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/169A.24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Statute 169A.24<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The charge is listed as a felony.<\/p>\n<p>It carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>It also carries a possible $14,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says Fear has three prior non-felony DWI convictions within ten years.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint also lists prior convictions for motor vehicle theft, drug possession, burglary, and drug sale.<\/p>\n<p>The charge is only an accusation at this stage.<\/p>\n<p>Fear is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n<p>More case information may be available through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mncourts.gov\/Access-Case-Records.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m Chris Harper reporting for <a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bemidji (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Bemidji man is facing a felony DWI charge after a traffic stop in Beltrami County. Joseph Robert Fear is charged in Beltrami County District Court with first-degree DWI. The charge involves allegedly operating a motor vehicle with a Schedule I or II controlled substance in his body. The case is filed&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-faces-felony-drug-dwi-charge\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bemidji Man Faces Felony Drug DWI Charge<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26875,"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":[1633,15473,14611,16877,16876,16878],"class_list":["post-26873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-felony-dwi","tag-bemidji-traffic-stop","tag-drug-dwi-charge","tag-joseph-robert-fear","tag-minnesota-first-degree-dwi","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26873","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=26873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26878,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26873\/revisions\/26878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}