{"id":29650,"date":"2026-05-23T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=29650"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:09:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:09:38","slug":"bemidji-man-charged-in-3rd-degree-dwi-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-charged-in-3rd-degree-dwi-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Charged In 3rd Degree DWI Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Bemidji<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Donald Lane Thomas is facing a gross misdemeanor third-degree DWI charge in Beltrami County District Court.<\/p>\n<p>The charge was filed after a traffic stop on May 13, 2026, in Bemidji.<\/p>\n<p>According to the court complaint, a caller reported a tan truck driving poorly near 15th Street Northwest and Irvine Avenue.<\/p>\n<p>The caller told police the truck crossed into her lane and was \u201call over the road.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Traffic Stop Reported In Bemidji<\/h2>\n<p>A Bemidji police officer later found the truck near Irvine Avenue Northwest and Justice Road Northwest.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says the truck was weaving inside its lane.<\/p>\n<p>It also allegedly touched the fog line several times.<\/p>\n<p>Police activated emergency lights near Irvine Avenue Northwest and Lakewood Drive Northwest.<\/p>\n<p>The truck did not stop right away, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n<p>Police said the truck moved onto the shoulder before stopping near Irvine Avenue Northwest and Nordic Avenue Northwest.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas was identified as the driver.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says Thomas had watery, bloodshot eyes and slurred speech.<\/p>\n<p>When asked how much he had to drink, Thomas allegedly answered, \u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center; margin: 25px 0;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; border-radius: 8px;\" src=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ThomasDonald.png\" alt=\"Mugshot of Donald Lane Thomas\" \/><em>Donald Lane Thomas<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Court Complaint Details Testing<\/h2>\n<p>Police said Thomas had poor balance after he stepped out of the truck.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says Thomas showed six clues during a field sobriety test.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas was unable to keep his balance for another test, according to court records.<\/p>\n<p>He reportedly cited blood clots that affected his balance.<\/p>\n<p>A preliminary breath test showed a result of 0.255, the complaint states.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas was then arrested and taken to the Beltrami County Jail.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint says he agreed to provide a breath sample after being read the advisory.<\/p>\n<p>However, police said he could not provide enough breath for testing.<\/p>\n<p>A search warrant was then prepared for a blood or urine sample.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas was taken to a hospital for medical clearance, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n<p>The warrant was later signed, and Thomas agreed to provide a blood sample.<\/p>\n<h2>Gross Misdemeanor Charge Filed<\/h2>\n<p>Thomas 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 charge also references <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/169A.26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Minnesota Statute 169A.26<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The offense is listed as third-degree DWI with one or more aggravating factors.<\/p>\n<p>The maximum sentence listed in the complaint is 364 days in jail.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint also lists a possible fine of up to $3,000.<\/p>\n<p>Court records cite a prior gross misdemeanor DWI conviction from 2006.<\/p>\n<p>They also cite a prior impaired-driving license loss from 2000.<\/p>\n<p>The case is filed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mncourts.gov\/Find-Courts\/Beltrami.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beltrami County District Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A criminal complaint contains allegations.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/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 Donald Lane Thomas is facing a gross misdemeanor third-degree DWI charge in Beltrami County District Court. The charge was filed after a traffic stop on May 13, 2026, in Bemidji. According to the court complaint, a caller reported a tan truck driving poorly near 15th Street Northwest and Irvine Avenue. The caller&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-charged-in-3rd-degree-dwi-case\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bemidji Man Charged In 3rd Degree DWI Case<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29652,"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":[3927,1633,1224,16805,17177,871,770,772,1721,17726,883,151,1314,1326],"class_list":["post-29650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-3rd","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji","tag-bemidji-dwi-charge","tag-bemidji-police-report","tag-case","tag-charged","tag-crime","tag-degree","tag-donald-lane-thomas","tag-dwi","tag-man","tag-minnesota-dwi","tag-third-degree-dwi","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29650","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=29650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}