{"id":72257,"date":"2026-11-08T09:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=72257"},"modified":"2026-11-07T07:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T13:40:07","slug":"detroit-lakes-man-faces-dwi-charges-after-speeding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/detroit-lakes-man-faces-dwi-charges-after-speeding\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Lakes Man Faces DWI Charges After Speeding"},"content":{"rendered":"

BECKER COUNTY, Minn.<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2013 A Detroit Lakes man faces two gross misdemeanor DWI charges after a Becker County deputy stopped a speeding vehicle.<\/p>\n

Damon Scott Bunnis, 20, of Detroit Lakes<\/strong>, is accused of driving while impaired following an October 11, 2026, traffic stop.<\/p>\n

According to a criminal complaint filed in Becker County District Court, deputies discovered empty beer cans inside his vehicle.<\/p>\n

Deputy Clocks Vehicle at 70 MPH<\/h2>\n

The incident began when a Becker County deputy noticed a vehicle apparently traveling faster than the posted speed limit.<\/p>\n

The deputy followed the vehicle and used radar to measure its speed.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, the vehicle was traveling 65 mph in a 45-mph zone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The deputy continued following the vehicle into an area with a posted 55-mph speed limit.<\/p>\n

A second radar reading showed the vehicle traveling 70 mph<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The deputy activated his emergency lights and conducted a traffic stop.<\/p>\n

Driver Admits Drinking Alcohol<\/h2>\n

When the deputy approached the vehicle, he noticed several empty beer cans on the passenger-side floorboard.<\/p>\n

The driver was identified as Bunnis.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Bunnis acknowledged drinking alcohol and said he did not have a driver’s license.<\/p>\n

He also told the deputy he was unsure whether the vehicle had insurance.<\/p>\n

The deputy reported that Bunnis had slurred speech, watery eyes, and an odor of alcohol.<\/p>\n

Those observations prompted further investigation into possible impaired driving.<\/p>\n

\"Damon<\/a>
Damon Scott Bunnis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Field Sobriety Tests Show Signs of Impairment<\/h2>\n

The deputy asked Bunnis to exit the vehicle and perform standardized field sobriety tests.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, the deputy observed signs of impairment during two of the three tests.<\/p>\n

Bunnis was then asked to provide a preliminary breath sample.<\/p>\n

The preliminary breath test registered an alcohol reading of .081<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Following the test, Bunnis was placed under arrest on suspicion of driving while impaired.<\/p>\n

Jail Breath Test Registers .08<\/h2>\n

Bunnis was transported to the Becker County Jail for additional testing.<\/p>\n

At the jail, authorities read him the required breath-testing advisory.<\/p>\n

According to court documents, Bunnis agreed to provide a breath sample using a DataMaster testing instrument.<\/p>\n

The subsequent test registered an alcohol concentration of .08<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That reading meets Minnesota’s general prohibited alcohol concentration threshold for drivers.<\/p>\n

Prior DWI-Related Offense Cited<\/h2>\n

Investigators also identified a previous DWI-related offense involving Bunnis.<\/p>\n

The complaint references Becker County court file 03-CR-24-1578<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors cite the prior offense as an aggravating factor supporting the third-degree DWI charges.<\/p>\n

The supplied complaint does not describe the disposition of that earlier case.<\/p>\n

Two Gross Misdemeanor Charges Filed<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors charged Bunnis with two counts of third-degree driving while impaired.<\/p>\n

Count 1:<\/strong> Operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.<\/p>\n

Count 2:<\/strong> Operating a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration of .08 or greater.<\/p>\n

The charges fall under Minnesota Statute 169A.20<\/a> and Minnesota Statute 169A.26<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Each charge carries a maximum possible penalty of 364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Case Filed in Becker County Court<\/h2>\n

The case is filed in Minnesota’s Seventh Judicial District under court file number 03-CR-26-2068<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The criminal complaint lists a summons for Bunnis.<\/p>\n

Both charges stem from the October 11 traffic stop.<\/p>\n

The allegations have not been proven in court. Bunnis is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Detroit Lakes man faces two DWI charges after deputies clocked his vehicle at 70 mph. Breath testing registered .08, and police reported empty beer cans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72258,"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":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[913,26352,914,883],"trf_mt_town":[29461],"trf_mt_county":[29534],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-72257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-becker-county","tag-damon-scott-bunnis","tag-detroit-lakes","tag-dwi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72257","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=72257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72259,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72257\/revisions\/72259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72257"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=72257"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=72257"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=72257"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=72257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}