{"id":38874,"date":"2026-07-24T07:06:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T12:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=38874"},"modified":"2026-07-19T21:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T02:34:58","slug":"thief-river-falls-man-charged-with-high-bac-dwi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/thief-river-falls-man-charged-with-high-bac-dwi\/","title":{"rendered":"Thief River Falls Man Charged With High BAC DWI"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Thief River Falls Man Charged With High BAC DWI<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Pennington County<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\">trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Thief River Falls man is facing a gross misdemeanor DWI charge after a traffic stop led to allegations of impaired driving.<\/p>\n<p>Loren Michael Pittman, 57, of Thief River Falls, is charged in Pennington County District Court with third-degree driving while impaired. The charge involves an alleged blood alcohol concentration of .16 or greater.<\/p>\n<p>Court records show the charge is connected to an incident reported on June 27, 2026. The complaint states Pittman\u2019s alcohol concentration was measured at .18 within two hours of driving.<\/p>\n<h2>Traffic Stop Led To DWI Investigation<\/h2>\n<p>According to the criminal complaint, authorities observed a vehicle traveling on 140th Street NE near the intersection of 150th Avenue NE.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint states the vehicle crossed the center line and nearly struck a patrol vehicle. It also alleges the vehicle continued weaving within its lane.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle was later stopped, and the driver was identified as Loren Michael Pittman.<\/p>\n<p>According to court documents, Pittman told authorities he was returning home from work. He also said he had consumed beer in Goodridge before driving.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint states that authorities noticed signs of possible impairment. Those signs included slurred speech and the smell of alcohol coming from the vehicle.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\" src=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Loren-Pittman.jpg\" alt=\"Loren Michael Pittman mugshot\" \/><em>Loren Michael Pittman booking photo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Field Tests And Breath Test Results<\/h2>\n<p>The complaint states that Pittman agreed to perform standardized field sobriety tests.<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, Pittman had difficulty with balance during the tests. The complaint says he stumbled, stepped off the line, and used his arms for balance.<\/p>\n<p>Pittman also told authorities he had a previous hip replacement. He said this affected his ability to balance.<\/p>\n<p>A preliminary breath test reportedly showed a result of .19.<\/p>\n<p>After the test, Pittman was arrested on suspicion of impaired driving. Authorities said two coolers containing unopened beer cans were located in the truck bed.<\/p>\n<h2>Charges Filed In Pennington County<\/h2>\n<p>Pittman was transported to the Pennington County Jail. Court documents state he was advised of his rights regarding chemical testing.<\/p>\n<p>The complaint states that Pittman requested to speak with an attorney but later agreed to take a breath test.<\/p>\n<p>The final breath test reportedly showed an alcohol concentration of .18.<\/p>\n<p>The charge against Pittman is a gross misdemeanor. A conviction could result in up to 364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n<p>All charges are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n<p>More information about Minnesota DWI laws can be found through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/169A\">Minnesota Legislature<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m Adrian Cole, reporting for <a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\">TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thief River Falls man Loren Pittman faces gross misdemeanor DWI charges after authorities allege his blood alcohol level reached .18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38875,"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":"","_bluesky_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":[2170,12563,10641,14674,11690],"class_list":["post-38874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-impaired-driving","tag-loren-pittman","tag-minnesota-dwi-charge","tag-pennington-county-court","tag-thief-river-falls-dwi","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38874","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=38874"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38876,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38874\/revisions\/38876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}