{"id":44041,"date":"2026-08-17T08:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T13:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=44041"},"modified":"2026-08-15T11:58:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:58:36","slug":"bemidji-man-charged-after-refusing-to-leave-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-charged-after-refusing-to-leave-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Charged After Refusing to Leave Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bemidji Man Charged After Refusing to Leave Hospital<\/h2>\n

Bemidji<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Michael Herman Defoe faces a gross misdemeanor trespass charge in Beltrami County.<\/p>\n

The charge follows an incident at a Sanford hospital in Bemidji on July 23, 2026.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Defoe refused to leave after hospital staff asked him to depart.<\/p>\n

The allegations are detailed in a Beltrami County District Court complaint.<\/p>\n

Police Called to Bemidji Hospital<\/h2>\n

Bemidji police responded after staff reported Defoe would not leave the hospital.<\/p>\n

A responding officer told Defoe that staff wanted him off the property.<\/p>\n

The officer also told him that he was required to leave.<\/p>\n

Defoe refused to depart, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

He reportedly told police that he had nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n

Court records state Defoe had previously been ordered to leave Sanford property.<\/p>\n

The complaint does not describe any violence during the July 23 encounter.<\/p>\n

The charge concerns the alleged refusal to leave after being directed to depart.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Michael
Michael Herman Defoe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Prior Trespass Convictions Cited<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors listed several previous Minnesota convictions in the complaint.<\/p>\n

Those records include multiple trespass convictions dating from 2018 through 2025.<\/p>\n

The filing also lists a 2025 indecent exposure conviction.<\/p>\n

It includes several earlier trespass cases from Beltrami County.<\/p>\n

Those prior convictions do not prove the new allegation.<\/p>\n

However, prosecutors cite them in connection with the charge level.<\/p>\n

Minnesota law normally treats this refusal-to-leave trespass offense as a misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

A repeat-offense law can raise certain misdemeanor crimes to gross misdemeanors.<\/p>\n

That enhancement can apply when a court finds two or more qualifying prior convictions.<\/p>\n

The complaint cites that provision in Defoe’s case.<\/p>\n

Gross Misdemeanor Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

Defoe is charged with trespass for allegedly refusing to leave another person’s premises.<\/p>\n

The complaint lists a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail.<\/p>\n

It also lists a possible fine of up to $3,000.<\/p>\n

The case is filed as 04-CR-26-1707 in Beltrami County District Court.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota’s trespass law<\/a> online.<\/p>\n

The repeat-offense provision<\/a> is also available from the Minnesota Revisor.<\/p>\n

Information about Sanford Bemidji Medical Center<\/a> is available online.<\/p>\n

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

The current charge is an allegation and does not establish guilt.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

Michael Herman Defoe faces a gross misdemeanor trespass charge after police say he refused to leave Sanford Bemidji Medical Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39707,"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":[1633,17175,20565,5274,23068,981,17338],"class_list":["post-44041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-crime","tag-bemidji-trespass-charge","tag-gross-misdemeanor","tag-michael-herman-defoe","tag-minnesota-trespass-law","tag-sanford-bemidji","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44041","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=44041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44042,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44041\/revisions\/44042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}