{"id":48019,"date":"2026-09-12T13:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=48019"},"modified":"2026-09-12T13:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:20:24","slug":"west-fargo-officer-arrested-for-dui-put-on-paid-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/west-fargo-officer-arrested-for-dui-put-on-paid-leave\/","title":{"rendered":"West Fargo Officer Arrested for DUI, Put on Paid Leave"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>West Fargo Officer Arrested for DUI, Put on Paid Leave<\/h2>\n<p><strong>West Fargo (<a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\">trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2014 A West Fargo police officer has been placed on paid leave following a DUI arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Walker Lee Koropatnicki was arrested early Saturday, September 5, after a traffic stop in Fargo.<\/p>\n<p>The North Dakota Highway Patrol conducted the stop and arrested Koropatnicki for driving under the influence.<\/p>\n<p>The West Fargo Police Department has since opened an internal investigation into the incident.<\/p>\n<h2>Highway Patrol Makes DUI Arrest<\/h2>\n<p>The traffic stop occurred during the early morning hours of September 5.<\/p>\n<p>Highway Patrol officials said Koropatnicki was driving on 13th Avenue South in Fargo.<\/p>\n<p>He was allegedly traveling 50 mph in a 35 mph zone.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities also said his vehicle was not staying within its lane.<\/p>\n<p>Koropatnicki was taken into custody without incident.<\/p>\n<p>No other vehicles or people were involved in the incident, according to police.<\/p>\n<p>A later Highway Patrol update reported Koropatnicki&#8217;s blood alcohol level at 0.10.<\/p>\n<p>North Dakota&#8217;s legal limit for most adult drivers is 0.08.<\/p>\n<p>More information about state DUI law is available through the <a href=\"https:\/\/ndlegis.gov\/prod\/cencode\/t39c08.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">North Dakota Legislative Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center; margin: 25px auto;\"><!-- Replace the URL below with a verified Walker Lee Koropatnicki booking photo. --><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0 auto; max-width: 600px; width: 100%; height: auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/MI6GEQDY6RAPXHRSHWCDKAZK2I.png\" alt=\"Walker Lee Koropatnicki mugshot\" \/><figcaption>Walker Lee Koropatnicki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Internal Investigation Underway<\/h2>\n<p>The West Fargo Police Department announced the internal investigation on September 6.<\/p>\n<p>Koropatnicki will remain on paid administrative leave while the department reviews the case.<\/p>\n<p>The department&#8217;s police chief will oversee the investigation and any additional internal proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>Police said Koropatnicki began working for the West Fargo Police Department in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The department did not announce a timeline for completing its internal review.<\/p>\n<p>It also said no further information would be released at that time.<\/p>\n<p>The department&#8217;s original statement can be viewed on the <a href=\"https:\/\/westfargopolice.com\/m\/newsflash\/home\/detail\/3184\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">West Fargo Police Department website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Criminal Case Separate From Department Review<\/h2>\n<p>The internal investigation is separate from any criminal court proceedings related to the arrest.<\/p>\n<p>An arrest does not establish guilt, and Koropatnicki is presumed innocent unless convicted.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statepatrol.nd.gov\/ndhp-about-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">North Dakota Highway Patrol<\/a> handled the traffic stop and arrest.<\/p>\n<p>North Dakota law prohibits operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or other substances.<\/p>\n<p>Additional details about the case may become available through court records or future agency releases.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m Adrian Cole reporting for <a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\">TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><small>Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>West Fargo officer Walker Lee Koropatnicki faces an internal investigation after a DUI arrest in Fargo and has been placed on paid leave.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48020,"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":[1103,24935,24938,1479,24937,24933,24934,22206,1188,24936],"class_list":["post-48019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-fargo-crime-news","tag-fargo-dui","tag-north-dakota-dui","tag-north-dakota-highway-patrol","tag-police-officer-arrested","tag-walker-lee-koropatnicki","tag-west-fargo-dui-arrest","tag-west-fargo-news","tag-west-fargo-police","tag-west-fargo-police-officer","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48019","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=48019"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51548,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48019\/revisions\/51548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}