{"id":29644,"date":"2026-05-22T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=29644"},"modified":"2026-05-21T13:53:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T18:53:03","slug":"east-grand-forks-man-charged-in-meth-dwi-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/east-grand-forks-man-charged-in-meth-dwi-case\/","title":{"rendered":"East Grand Forks Man Charged In Meth DWI Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

East Grand Forks<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Derek Jacob Pederson, 35, of East Grand Forks, is facing felony and gross misdemeanor charges in Polk County District Court.<\/p>\n

The charges follow a traffic stop on May 13, 2026, in East Grand Forks. According to the criminal complaint, Pederson was stopped while driving a black Chevrolet Silverado near the 1400 block of River Road Northwest.<\/p>\n

Court documents say the stop happened near River Heights Park and the Greenway Recreational Area. Prosecutors allege the area is a protected park zone under Minnesota law.<\/p>\n

Felony Drug Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

Pederson is charged with third-degree controlled substance crime. The charge alleges possession of methamphetamine in a prohibited zone.<\/p>\n

Under Minnesota Statute 152.023<\/a>, the charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. It also carries a possible $250,000 fine.<\/p>\n

The complaint states that officers found a burnt straw with white crystal-like residue inside the vehicle. The residue allegedly field tested positive for methamphetamine.<\/p>\n

\"MugshotDerek Jacob Pederson<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

DWI Counts Include Child Passenger Allegation<\/h2>\n

Pederson also faces two third-degree DWI charges. Both are gross misdemeanors under Minnesota law.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Pederson drove while under the influence of a controlled substance. They also allege his body contained methamphetamine or its metabolite.<\/p>\n

The complaint says an eight-year-old child was inside the vehicle at the time. The child was more than 36 months younger than Pederson.<\/p>\n

Under Minnesota Statute 169A.26<\/a>, third-degree DWI can carry up to 364 days in jail. It can also carry a $3,000 fine.<\/p>\n

License Restriction Charge Also Filed<\/h2>\n

Pederson is also charged with violating a restricted driver\u2019s license. The complaint says his license was suspended on April 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Court records allege Pederson\u2019s license had restrictions tied to alcohol or drug use. Prosecutors say any use of alcohol or controlled substances invalidated his license.<\/p>\n

At the East Grand Forks Police Department, Pederson agreed to provide a urine sample. The complaint says the sample field tested positive for methamphetamine.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Pederson told law enforcement he had not used methamphetamine for about two months. He also allegedly said the straw was old drug paraphernalia.<\/p>\n

The complaint also lists prior convictions in North Dakota and Minnesota. They include past DWI and controlled substance convictions.<\/p>\n

Pederson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. The case is filed in Polk County District Court under court file number 60-CR-26-656.<\/p>\n

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

East Grand Forks (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 Derek Jacob Pederson, 35, of East Grand Forks, is facing felony and gross misdemeanor charges in Polk County District Court. The charges follow a traffic stop on May 13, 2026, in East Grand Forks. According to the criminal complaint, Pederson was stopped while driving a black Chevrolet Silverado near the… Continue reading East Grand Forks Man Charged In Meth DWI Case<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29645,"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":[871,770,772,17724,883,13808,819,947,820,457,151,1026,15062,955,6265,786],"class_list":["post-29644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-case","tag-charged","tag-crime","tag-derek-pederson","tag-dwi","tag-dwi-charge","tag-east","tag-east-grand-forks","tag-forks","tag-grand","tag-man","tag-meth","tag-meth-charge","tag-minnesota-crime-news","tag-polk-county-court","tag-trf-news","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29644","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=29644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}