{"id":8145,"date":"2026-01-14T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=8145"},"modified":"2026-01-16T15:48:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T21:48:44","slug":"middle-river-man-charged-after-wrong-way-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/middle-river-man-charged-after-wrong-way-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle River Man Charged After Wrong-Way Chase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Becker County (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2014 A Middle River man is charged after a reported wrong-way driving incident and pursuit in Becker County.<\/p>\n

Court records identify the defendant as Zachary Ryan Opdahl, 38, of Middle River, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

He is charged with felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n

He is also charged with gross misdemeanor DWI, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Wrong-way driving reported in Audubon<\/h2>\n

According to court records, the incident happened the evening of Dec. 5, 2025.<\/p>\n

A deputy reported seeing a vehicle traveling eastbound in the westbound lane of Highway 10 in Audubon.<\/p>\n

The deputy reported driving alongside the vehicle to get the driver\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n

Records say the driver did not respond.<\/p>\n

The deputy reported activating emergency lights while alongside the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Records say the vehicle continued at about 60 miles per hour in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n

The deputy reported pulling ahead into a crossover with lights still on.<\/p>\n

Records say the vehicle passed and then sped up.<\/p>\n

\"Zachary
Zachary Ryan Opdahl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deputy avoided a collision, records say<\/h2>\n

Court records say the deputy drove head-on toward the vehicle to force a stop.<\/p>\n

Records say the driver did not slow down.<\/p>\n

The deputy reported steering toward the ditch to avoid a crash.<\/p>\n

The vehicle then passed and accelerated again, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Stop sticks used near Detroit Lakes<\/h2>\n

Other officers set up squad vehicles and stop sticks near Detroit Lakes, records say.<\/p>\n

Court records say the vehicle slowed and stopped at that location.<\/p>\n

A deputy ordered Opdahl out of the vehicle, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Records say he complied after repeated commands.<\/p>\n

Records also say the deputy drew a pistol during the commands.<\/p>\n

DWI allegations<\/h2>\n

As Opdahl exited, a deputy reported smelling alcohol.<\/p>\n

Records say Opdahl had slurred speech and bloodshot, watery eyes.<\/p>\n

Court records say he showed impairment clues during the HGN eye test.<\/p>\n

Records say a preliminary breath test measured .18 alcohol concentration.<\/p>\n

Opdahl was taken to jail, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Records say he refused a breath test at the jail.<\/p>\n

Court records also note a 2023 conviction for DWI test refusal.<\/p>\n

Bail conditions and next hearing<\/h2>\n

On Dec. 8, 2025, bail was set at $40,000 without conditions, records say.<\/p>\n

Bail was set at $20,000 with standard conditions, records say.<\/p>\n

Conditions include no alcohol or drug use.<\/p>\n

Conditions also include staying out of bars and liquor stores.<\/p>\n

Records say he must submit to random testing.<\/p>\n

Records say he must use an alcohol monitor or follow ignition interlock rules.<\/p>\n

Records also say he must comply with pretrial supervision.<\/p>\n

His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026.<\/p>\n

The hearing is set before District Judge Michelle Lawson, court records say.<\/p>\n

Resources<\/h2>\n

Minnesota fleeing law: Minn. Stat. 609.487<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Minnesota DWI law: Minn. Stat. 169A.20<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Minnesota ignition interlock info: MN DPS Ignition Interlock.<\/p>\n

Minnesota court records portal: Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Charges are allegations.<\/p>\n

Opdahl is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Becker County (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A Middle River man is charged after a reported wrong-way driving incident and pursuit in Becker County. Court records identify the defendant as Zachary Ryan Opdahl, 38, of Middle River, Minnesota. He is charged with felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. He is also charged with gross misdemeanor… Continue reading Middle River Man Charged After Wrong-Way Chase<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9611,"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":[346,2166,3975,913,770,959,2055,3551,772,1855,929,914,2177,883,960,2889,7639,2169,6536,926,151,2121,2165,1286,824,8929,6537,1070,1737,2274,2167],"class_list":["post-8145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-after","tag-audubon","tag-avoid","tag-becker-county","tag-charged","tag-charges","tag-chase","tag-collision","tag-crime","tag-deputy","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lakes","tag-ditch","tag-dwi","tag-faces","tag-felony-fleeing","tag-headon","tag-highway-10","tag-ignition-interlock","tag-lakes","tag-man","tag-middle","tag-middle-river","tag-minnesota-court","tag-river","tag-stop-sticks","tag-test-refusal","tag-tribune","tag-turn","tag-wrong-way","tag-zachary-ryan-opdahl","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8145","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=8145"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10914,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8145\/revisions\/10914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}