{"id":72883,"date":"2026-11-11T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=72883"},"modified":"2026-11-10T11:44:02","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T17:44:02","slug":"bemidji-woman-charged-after-22-dwi-test-refusal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-woman-charged-after-22-dwi-test-refusal\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Woman Charged After .22 DWI Test, Refusal"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEMIDJI, MN \u2013 (trfnews.i234.me)<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 A Bemidji woman faces a gross misdemeanor DWI test refusal charge following an early-morning traffic stop.<\/p>\n

Kristen Chelaine Cox, 51, of Bemidji, is accused of refusing an evidentiary breath test after allegedly running three stop signs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The incident occurred October 18, 2026, at approximately 2:22 a.m. in Bemidji.<\/p>\n

According to a Beltrami County criminal complaint, a preliminary breath test showed an alcohol concentration of 0.22.<\/p>\n

Deputy Observes Three Stop Sign Violations<\/h2>\n

A Beltrami County sheriff’s deputy was patrolling near Third Street Northwest and Irvine Avenue Northwest.<\/p>\n

The deputy noticed a dark-colored sedan traveling westbound on Third Street.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, the vehicle failed to stop at an intersection before turning northbound onto Beltrami Avenue.<\/p>\n

The deputy followed the vehicle and reportedly observed another stop sign violation at Fourth Street.<\/p>\n

Investigators alleged the sedan then failed to stop again at Fourth Street and Bemidji Avenue.<\/p>\n

Following the third alleged violation, the deputy activated emergency lights and stopped the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Driver Admits Drinking Alcohol<\/h2>\n

The deputy identified the driver as Kristen Chelaine Cox.<\/p>\n

During their conversation, the deputy reportedly noticed Cox had slurred speech and was speaking slowly.<\/p>\n

When questioned about alcohol consumption, Cox allegedly admitted having a couple of alcoholic drinks before driving.<\/p>\n

The deputy requested that Cox complete field sobriety testing.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Cox did not satisfactorily complete those tests.<\/p>\n

\"Kristen<\/a>
Kristen Chelaine Cox<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Preliminary Breath Test Shows .22<\/h2>\n

Investigators reported that Cox provided a preliminary breath test showing an alcohol concentration of 0.22.<\/p>\n

That reading was more than twice Minnesota’s standard legal driving limit of 0.08.<\/p>\n

The preliminary result was obtained during the roadside investigation.<\/p>\n

Cox was subsequently arrested and transported to the Beltrami County Jail.<\/p>\n

Jail Breath Test Deemed a Refusal<\/h2>\n

At the jail, deputies read Cox Minnesota’s breath test advisory.<\/p>\n

The advisory explained that refusing a legally required breath test is a criminal offense.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Cox initially attempted to follow instructions while using the evidentiary breath-testing machine.<\/p>\n

However, investigators alleged she did not consistently provide adequate breath samples.<\/p>\n

Deputies reportedly repeated the instructions, but the machine did not receive enough air to complete the test.<\/p>\n

The testing equipment eventually timed out without producing a sufficient sample.<\/p>\n

Investigators classified the unsuccessful test as a refusal.<\/p>\n

The complaint does not report a completed evidentiary breath-test result.<\/p>\n

Gross Misdemeanor Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

Prosecutors charged Cox with DWI test refusal under Minnesota Statute 169A.20, subdivision 2(1).<\/p>\n

The complaint also references Minnesota’s second-degree DWI penalty provision.<\/p>\n

The charge is classified as a gross misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

If convicted, Cox faces a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n

The complaint also lists a previous fourth-degree DWI conviction from August 2016.<\/p>\n

That conviction is separate from the current charge.<\/p>\n

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

The criminal case was filed in Beltrami County District Court under number 04-CR-26-2590.<\/p>\n

The complaint includes an order of detention.<\/p>\n

The supplied court records do not establish the current outcome of the case.<\/p>\n

Additional information about Minnesota’s DWI laws is available through the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Public court records can be searched through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cox is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Kristen Chelaine Cox of Bemidji faces a DWI test refusal charge after allegedly running three stop signs. Police reported a preliminary alcohol reading of .22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72884,"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":[1212,1224,883,32028],"trf_mt_town":[29430],"trf_mt_county":[29512],"trf_mt_topic":[29493],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-72883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-beltrami-county","tag-bemidji","tag-dwi","tag-kristen-chelaine-cox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72883","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=72883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72885,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72883\/revisions\/72885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72883"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=72883"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=72883"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=72883"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=72883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}