{"id":28327,"date":"2026-05-10T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=28327"},"modified":"2026-05-08T06:02:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:02:39","slug":"bemidji-man-charged-in-drug-dwi-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-charged-in-drug-dwi-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Charged In Drug DWI Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bemidji<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Red Lake man is facing a gross misdemeanor DWI charge after a traffic stop in Bemidji.<\/p>\n

According to a Beltrami County District Court complaint, Ronald Leigh Cobenais Jr., 35, is charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n

The case was filed in Minnesota\u2019s 9th Judicial District under court file number 04-CR-26-887.<\/p>\n

Traffic Stop In Bemidji<\/h2>\n

The complaint says the incident happened around 8:38 p.m. on April 19, 2026.<\/p>\n

Police were on patrol in the 600 block of 24th Street NW in Bemidji.<\/p>\n

Officers reported seeing a silver Honda Accord. They also reported seeing the driver using a cell phone while driving.<\/p>\n

Police then activated emergency lights and stopped the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The driver was identified as Ronald Leigh Cobenais Jr. of Red Lake.<\/p>\n

Signs Reported By Police<\/h2>\n

According to the complaint, officers reported signs they believed showed impairment.<\/p>\n

Those signs included dilated pupils, glassy eyes, eyelid tremors, and heat bumps on the back of the tongue.<\/p>\n

Police then asked Cobenais to complete field sobriety tests.<\/p>\n

The complaint says he did not perform the tests in a satisfactory way.<\/p>\n

\"Ronald<\/p>\n

Ronald Leigh Cobenais Jr.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Blood Sample Sought<\/h2>\n

Cobenais was taken into custody after the stop.<\/p>\n

He was transported to Sanford Bemidji Medical Center.<\/p>\n

The complaint says police applied for a search warrant for a blood or urine sample.<\/p>\n

A judge granted the request.<\/p>\n

Cobenais agreed to give a blood sample.<\/p>\n

That sample was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing.<\/p>\n

More information about Minnesota DWI laws is available from the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Court case information may be available through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

The charge is listed as a gross misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the maximum sentence is 364 days in jail and a $3,000 fine.<\/p>\n

The complaint also cites one or more aggravating factors.<\/p>\n

Court records listed in the complaint say Cobenais was on supervised probation in two prior cases.<\/p>\n

One case involved fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance.<\/p>\n

Another involved fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance, fourth-degree DWI, and driving after revocation.<\/p>\n

A criminal complaint is not a conviction.<\/p>\n

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

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

Bemidji (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Red Lake man is facing a gross misdemeanor DWI charge after a traffic stop in Bemidji. According to a Beltrami County District Court complaint, Ronald Leigh Cobenais Jr., 35, is charged with operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance. The case was filed in Minnesota\u2019s 9th… Continue reading Bemidji Man Charged In Drug DWI Case<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28330,"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":[1633,16805,5264,5285,1314,17345,786],"class_list":["post-28327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-dwi-charge","tag-bemidji-police","tag-drug-dwi","tag-minnesota-dwi","tag-ronald-leigh-cobenais-jr","tag-trf-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28327","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=28327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}