{"id":29175,"date":"2026-05-19T13:42:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=29175"},"modified":"2026-05-17T09:16:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T14:16:42","slug":"akeley-chase-leads-to-major-drug-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/akeley-chase-leads-to-major-drug-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Akeley Chase Leads To Major Drug Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beltrami County<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) – Wendi Lynn Fairbanks of Red Lake is facing several charges after a reported police chase near Akeley.<\/p>\n

The case was filed in Beltrami County District Court under court file 04-CR-26-1028.<\/p>\n

Fairbanks is charged with first-degree assault, first-degree drug possession, fleeing police, and DWI.<\/p>\n

The charges are only accusations. Fairbanks is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

Complaint Alleges Two Vehicles Traveled Together<\/h2>\n

According to the complaint, the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force was investigating Fairbanks for possible drug trafficking.<\/p>\n

Investigators said Fairbanks was traveling from the Twin Cities metro toward Beltrami County on May 2.<\/p>\n

The complaint says two vehicles were later seen traveling together through Akeley.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement believed the vehicles may have been working together, according to the court filing.<\/p>\n

A traffic stop was attempted near Highway 2 in Beltrami County.<\/p>\n

One vehicle stopped. A Dodge Charger then fled, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

High-Speed Chase Reported<\/h2>\n

The complaint alleges the Charger crossed Highway 2 and reached speeds over 100 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

Authorities said the driver threw an object from the window during the chase.<\/p>\n

The complaint also alleges the vehicle swerved toward a squad car twice.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement later used a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Authorities said the vehicle then struck another squad vehicle head-on.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the vehicle also backed into another squad car.<\/p>\n

\"Mugshot
Wendi Lynn Fairbanks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drug Allegations Listed In Complaint<\/h2>\n

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

Authorities said she showed signs of recent drug use.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges Fairbanks admitted to using methamphetamine within the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Authorities also said a bag of suspected fentanyl was found during the investigation.<\/p>\n

The court charge lists first-degree drug possession involving 25 grams or more of heroin.<\/p>\n

The probable cause statement describes a suspected fentanyl substance weighing about 42 grams.<\/p>\n

More information on Minnesota drug laws is available through the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Second Vehicle Also Searched<\/h2>\n

The second vehicle was driven by Shanelle Lea Sigana, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Sandra Renee Sigana was listed as a passenger.<\/p>\n

A young child was also found sleeping in the rear luggage area, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

Authorities reported finding more than 50 grams of suspected fentanyl under Sandra Sigana\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

Shanelle Sigana allegedly claimed Fairbanks placed the substance in the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The complaint also says Shanelle Sigana admitted to using fentanyl earlier.<\/p>\n

Fairbanks faces a maximum of 20 years for the assault charge.<\/p>\n

She also faces up to 40 years on the first-degree drug charge.<\/p>\n

Details on Minnesota fleeing laws are listed by the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Court records can be searched through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Beltrami County (trfnews.i234.me) – Wendi Lynn Fairbanks of Red Lake is facing several charges after a reported police chase near Akeley. The case was filed in Beltrami County District Court under court file 04-CR-26-1028. Fairbanks is charged with first-degree assault, first-degree drug possession, fleeing police, and DWI. The charges are only accusations. Fairbanks is presumed… Continue reading Akeley Chase Leads To Major Drug Charges<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29177,"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":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_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":[17601,14789,13808,17602,5231,6148,17333],"class_list":["post-29175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-akeley-minnesota","tag-beltrami-county-charges","tag-dwi-charge","tag-fentanyl-charges","tag-minnesota-court-complaint","tag-police-chase","tag-wendi-fairbanks","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29175","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=29175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}