{"id":744,"date":"2025-12-07T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=744"},"modified":"2025-12-06T18:27:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T00:27:59","slug":"pennington-county-woman-charged-with-2nd-degree-dwi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/pennington-county-woman-charged-with-2nd-degree-dwi\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennington County Woman Charged With 2nd Degree DWI"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thief River Falls (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2013 A Thief River Falls woman is facing a second-degree DWI charge after a late-night traffic stop in Pennington County.<\/p>\n

According to a criminal complaint, 37-year-old Renae Martinez<\/strong> of Thief River Falls was stopped in the early morning hours of November 23.<\/p>\n

The traffic stop happened at about 1:32 a.m. in the 400 block of First Street East.<\/p>\n

An officer spoke with Martinez after the vehicle was stopped. The officer reported smelling alcohol coming from the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The complaint says the officer also noticed other signs of possible impairment while talking with Martinez at the driver\u2019s window.<\/p>\n

Those indicators allegedly included issues with balance and speech, along with general driving concerns observed before the stop.<\/p>\n

Martinez was asked to perform standard field sobriety tests on the roadside. These tests help officers look for signs of impairment.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Martinez failed those field sobriety tests, and the officer believed she was impaired by alcohol.<\/p>\n

A preliminary breath test was then given at the scene. The reported result was a 0.16 Blood Alcohol Content.<\/p>\n

Minnesota\u2019s legal limit for most drivers is 0.08 BAC. That limit is set in\u00a0Minnesota Statute 169A.20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After the roadside test, Martinez was arrested and taken to jail for further testing and booking.<\/p>\n

At the jail, she provided two breath samples on a DMT testing machine. The complaint reports that both tests showed a 0.16 BAC.<\/p>\n

\"Booking<\/div>\n

Because the tests were at or above 0.16, the case is treated as a high-test DWI. That level is an aggravating factor under state law.<\/p>\n

The complaint also notes that Martinez had a prior implied consent revocation only five days earlier. That earlier action is another aggravating factor.<\/p>\n

With two or more aggravating factors, the charge rises to second-degree DWI under
\nMinnesota Statute 169A.25<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Second-degree DWI is a serious gross misdemeanor offense. It can bring stronger penalties than a basic first-time DWI.<\/p>\n

Possible outcomes can include higher fines, longer license loss, and potential jail time. Vehicle-related penalties may also apply in some cases.<\/p>\n

General information on impaired driving laws, crashes, and enforcement is posted by the state\u2019s\u00a0Office of Traffic Safety<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Court hearings for Martinez will be held in Pennington County District Court. Case details and future dates are listed on the\u00a0Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a> website.<\/p>\n

At this stage, the charge against Renae Martinez is an allegation. She is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

Officials continue to remind drivers to plan a sober ride and avoid driving after drinking. Impaired driving remains a key safety concern on Minnesota roads.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper reporting for\u00a0TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thief River Falls (trfnews.i234.me) \u2013 A Thief River Falls woman is facing a second-degree DWI charge after a late-night traffic stop in Pennington County. According to a criminal complaint, 37-year-old Renae Martinez of Thief River Falls was stopped in the early morning hours of November 23. The traffic stop happened at about 1:32 a.m. in… Continue reading Pennington County Woman Charged With 2nd Degree DWI<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":737,"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":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_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":[1331,1720,1335,770,768,772,1721,1336,883,1337,1161,876,791,777,1325,1334,778,93,620],"class_list":["post-744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-0-16-bac","tag-2nd","tag-aggravated-dwi","tag-charged","tag-county","tag-crime","tag-degree","tag-drunk-driving-charges","tag-dwi","tag-implied-consent-revocation","tag-minnesota-courts","tag-minnesota-dwi-law","tag-pennington","tag-pennington-county","tag-renae-martinez","tag-second-degree-dwi","tag-thief-river-falls","tag-with","tag-woman","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744","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=744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":745,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744\/revisions\/745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}