{"id":44177,"date":"2026-08-19T04:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T09:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=44177"},"modified":"2026-08-15T20:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T01:11:34","slug":"bemidji-man-faces-4-charges-after-police-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-man-faces-4-charges-after-police-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Man Faces 4 Charges After Police Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Bemidji Man Faces 4 Charges After Police Chase<\/h2>\n

Bemidji<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Bemidji man faces four charges following an alleged July police pursuit.<\/p>\n

Brian Michael Rinkenberger, 38, faces one felony, one gross misdemeanor, and two misdemeanor charges.<\/p>\n

The most serious charge is felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors also charged him with driving after cancellation, a title violation, and lacking proof of insurance.<\/p>\n

Trooper Reports Dangerous Driving<\/h2>\n

The incident began around 7:43 a.m. on July 11, 2026, according to the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

A Minnesota State Patrol trooper noticed a red GMC Sierra traveling east on U.S. Highway 2.<\/p>\n

The truck had an extremely loud exhaust and continued toward Minnesota Highway 197.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the driver passed another vehicle inside a construction zone.<\/p>\n

The Sierra allegedly entered the opposing lane, passed in a no-passing zone, and ran a red light.<\/p>\n

The trooper then activated emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop.<\/p>\n

Instead, prosecutors allege the Sierra accelerated along Menards Road and through several business parking lots.<\/p>\n

\"Brian
Brian Michael Rinkenberger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Squad And Pickup Collide<\/h2>\n

The pursuit continued near Menards and L&M Fleet Supply.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the trooper tried to position the squad for a pursuit intervention maneuver.<\/p>\n

The Sierra then allegedly turned sharply in front of the squad.<\/p>\n

The vehicles collided, leaving the patrol vehicle with disabling front-end damage.<\/p>\n

The trooper pushed the Sierra into a ditch, where the truck struck a dirt pile.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors say the Sierra then accelerated through the dirt and returned to U.S. Highway 2.<\/p>\n

The pursuit lasted about 0.9 miles, according to court records.<\/p>\n

The trooper was not injured.<\/p>\n

Investigators Identify Rinkenberger<\/h2>\n

Deputies contacted the registered owner of the GMC Sierra after the pursuit.<\/p>\n

The owner said the truck had been sold to Rinkenberger on April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n

Investigators allege Rinkenberger had not transferred the vehicle title.<\/p>\n

Authorities also determined his driver’s license was cancelled as inimical to public safety.<\/p>\n

The complaint says a driver’s license photograph matched the person seen driving the Sierra.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement searched several locations connected to Rinkenberger but did not locate him.<\/p>\n

A woman told investigators he had arrived at her residence later that morning.<\/p>\n

Police searched the residence, but Rinkenberger was no longer there.<\/p>\n

Arrest Warrant Requested<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant because Rinkenberger’s location was unknown when the complaint was filed.<\/p>\n

The felony fleeing charge carries up to three years and one day in prison.<\/p>\n

It also carries a possible $5,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota Statute 609.487<\/a> concerning fleeing police.<\/p>\n

The license charge is covered by Minnesota Statute 171.24<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Rinkenberger is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/p>\n

I’m 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 Bemidji man faces four charges after prosecutors say he fled a traffic stop, struck a State Patrol squad, and escaped after a July pursuit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39881,"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":[1633,14780,23167,23168,23170,15379,23169],"class_list":["post-44177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county-court","tag-bemidji-crime-news","tag-bemidji-police-chase","tag-brian-michael-rinkenberger","tag-cancelled-license","tag-fleeing-police-minnesota","tag-state-patrol-pursuit","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44177","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=44177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44179,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44177\/revisions\/44179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}