{"id":41693,"date":"2026-08-05T18:39:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=41693"},"modified":"2026-08-02T14:10:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T19:10:40","slug":"perham-man-charged-after-two-county-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/perham-man-charged-after-two-county-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Perham Man Charged After Two-County Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Perham Man Charged After Two-County Chase<\/h2>\n

PERHAM (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2014 Mathias James Winkels faces two charges after an alleged two-county police chase in July.<\/p>\n

The case was filed in Otter Tail County District Court. A warrant was issued with the complaint.<\/p>\n

Winkels, 34, is charged with felony fleeing that allegedly caused substantial bodily harm.<\/p>\n

He also faces a misdemeanor charge for allegedly fleeing on foot.<\/p>\n

Chase Began Near Perham<\/h2>\n

The alleged events began during the night of July 8, 2026.<\/p>\n

Court records say Perham police tried to stop a vehicle registered to Winkels.<\/p>\n

An officer reported seeing Winkels driving before the vehicle failed to stop.<\/p>\n

An Otter Tail County deputy later found the vehicle and joined the pursuit.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the vehicle changed speeds and ran a marked stop sign.<\/p>\n

Authorities used emergency lights and sirens during the chase.<\/p>\n

The vehicle allegedly traveled between 50 and 60 mph during parts of the pursuit.<\/p>\n

It then crossed from Otter Tail County into Becker County.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Winkels threw an object from the driver\u2019s window.<\/p>\n

Stop Sticks Allegedly Avoided<\/h2>\n

A Becker County deputy placed stop sticks in the vehicle\u2019s path.<\/p>\n

The driver allegedly entered a ditch, avoided the stop sticks, and returned to the highway.<\/p>\n

\"Mathias
Mathias James Winkels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three marked squad vehicles then continued following the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The chase later returned to Otter Tail County.<\/p>\n

A deputy attempted a PIT maneuver to stop the fleeing vehicle.<\/p>\n

The vehicle spun, entered a ditch, and then returned to the highway.<\/p>\n

The complaint says a Becker County deputy suffered two broken wrist bones during the maneuver.<\/p>\n

Authorities ended that part of the pursuit after the vehicle continued against traffic.<\/p>\n

Vehicle Became Stuck in Mud<\/h2>\n

Minnesota State Patrol later found the vehicle after midnight on July 9.<\/p>\n

Deputies deployed stop sticks again, striking all four tires.<\/p>\n

The vehicle continued onto a minimum-maintenance road near a family hunting cabin.<\/p>\n

It eventually became stuck in mud, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

The driver then allegedly left the vehicle and ran away.<\/p>\n

Deputies spoke with a family member and later checked Winkels\u2019 home.<\/p>\n

The complaint says they did not find him at either location.<\/p>\n

His location was listed as unknown when the complaint was filed.<\/p>\n

Charges and Possible Penalties<\/h2>\n

The felony charge carries a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.<\/p>\n

The misdemeanor charge carries up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.<\/p>\n

A criminal charge is an allegation. Winkels is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

The case is filed as 56-CR-26-1702 in Minnesota\u2019s Seventh Judicial District.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota\u2019s fleeing law<\/a> through the Office of the Revisor of Statutes.<\/p>\n

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

I\u2019m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Perham man faces felony and misdemeanor charges after an alleged chase across Otter Tail and Becker counties injured a deputy on July 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41694,"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":"","_mastodon_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":[22123,22216,15363,21187,7337,22122,21355],"class_list":["post-41693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-becker-county-pursuit","tag-deputy-injury","tag-felony-fleeing-charge","tag-mathias-james-winkels","tag-minnesota-court-case","tag-otter-tail-county-chase","tag-perham-minnesota-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41693","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=41693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41695,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41693\/revisions\/41695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}