Woman Refused Blood, Urine Tests, Charged With DWI in Bemidji

A Bemidji woman accused of driving on methamphetamine refused both a blood test and a urine test after police got a search warrant, according to a felony complaint.

Shauna Michelle Cooper, 37, faces a felony charge of first-degree DWI for refusing to submit to a chemical test, according to the complaint filed October 5 in Beltrami County District Court.

Bemidji police were called to a residential parking lot at about 3:34 a.m. on October 4, 2026, after a caller reported that a woman on methamphetamine was driving around the lot, the complaint says.

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An arriving officer saw Cooper back a car into the lot, park and get out. Told to stay where she was, she kept walking and sat in a chair outside the residence. The officer noted that her movements seemed sped up and her left eye looked red and glassy, and believed she was impaired by a controlled substance, according to the complaint.

The caller told a second officer that Cooper had not slept in days and had driven around the lot earlier with a young child in the car. Another witness told police she saw Cooper snort methamphetamine the day before while driving to Minneapolis, the complaint says. Cooper denied using methamphetamine in the past couple of weeks, but an officer noted rapid speech, dilated pupils and tremors in her eyelids.

Cooper first refused field sobriety tests, then agreed. On the way to the squad car she stopped and raised a vape to her mouth, and when told not to use it, did so again and said she could if she wanted, according to the complaint. The officer handcuffed her and did not give the field tests.

At the Sanford emergency room, the officer showed Cooper a signed search warrant and told her that refusing a chemical test was a crime. She refused a blood test and then a urine test, the complaint says.

The complaint says Cooper has a felony DWI conviction from January 2023, along with earlier convictions for violating orders for protection, drug possession, motor vehicle theft and damage to property.