{"id":34433,"date":"2026-06-24T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=34433"},"modified":"2026-06-21T16:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T21:16:23","slug":"fergus-falls-man-charged-in-high-bac-dwi-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/fergus-falls-man-charged-in-high-bac-dwi-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Fergus Falls Man Charged in High-BAC DWI Case"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Fergus Falls Man Charged in High-BAC DWI Case<\/h2>\n

Fergus Falls (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2014 A Dalton man faces two gross misdemeanor DWI charges in Otter Tail County.<\/p>\n

Derek Allen Grothe, 34, was charged with two counts of second-degree driving while impaired.<\/p>\n

The case was filed in Minnesota\u2019s Seventh Judicial District under court file 56-CR-26-1307.<\/p>\n

The complaint lists the alleged offense date as June 5, 2026. However, its probable-cause statement describes a June 6 traffic stop.<\/p>\n

Wrong-Way Driving Reported<\/h2>\n

Police said a black 2017 Ford F-150 entered the wrong lane on South Tower Road.<\/p>\n

The truck was traveling south in the northbound lane, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

The vehicle later crossed a concrete median before continuing south. An officer turned around and stopped the truck on Westside Drive.<\/p>\n

Grothe allegedly struggled to find his driver\u2019s license. The complaint says he first handed over two other cards.<\/p>\n

Police reported bloodshot eyes, slow speech, and an odor of alcohol. Grothe allegedly said he had consumed three cocktails.<\/p>\n

Breath Test Result Cited<\/h2>\n

The complaint says Grothe appeared unsteady after leaving the truck.<\/p>\n

Police reported that he stumbled several times and used the vehicle for support.<\/p>\n

During field tests, Grothe allegedly missed heel-to-toe steps and stepped off the line.<\/p>\n

He later declined the one-leg stand test, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Two roadside breath tests reportedly produced readings of 0.240 and 0.231.<\/p>\n

A later evidentiary breath test showed 0.23 grams per 210 liters of air.<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s legal driving limit is 0.08 for most drivers.<\/p>\n

State law provides enhanced penalties when a test result reaches 0.16 or higher.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota\u2019s\u00a0DWI law\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0second-degree DWI statute<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prior DWI Listed<\/h2>\n

The complaint cites a 2022 gross misdemeanor DWI conviction as an aggravating factor.<\/p>\n

That case was also filed in Otter Tail County, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Each current charge carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail.<\/p>\n

Each charge also carries a possible fine of up to $3,000.<\/p>\n

The complaint contains allegations and does not prove guilt.<\/p>\n

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

Public case information may be available through\u00a0Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Fergus
Fergus Falls Man Charged in High-BAC DWI Case<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Dalton man faces two second-degree DWI charges after Fergus Falls police reported wrong-way driving and a breath result of 0.23.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34434,"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":[871,770,772,883,827,1375,18609,151],"class_list":["post-34433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-case","tag-charged","tag-crime","tag-dwi","tag-falls","tag-fergus","tag-highbac","tag-man","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34433","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=34433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34435,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34433\/revisions\/34435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}