6th OWI Charge Levied Against Wauwatosa Man

A 54-year-old Wauwatosa man is facing his sixth count of drunken driving after a traffic stop late Saturday night.

Scott James Oberthaler was charged Monday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with operating while intoxicated, sixth offense, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison.

According to police reports:

At 11:48 p.m. Saturday, a patrol officer saw Oberthaler driving on Blue Mound Road with his high beams on and then make three distinct, complete stops as he approached a red light at 97th Street.

The officer, who was deployed with the Southeast Wisconsin High-Visibility OWI Task Force, followed and pulled Oberthaler over in the 8600 block of Blue Mound.

He said Oberthaler smelled of alcohol and had glassy eyes and slurred speech, and admitted drinking three beers in the evening.

Oberthaler failed field sobriety tests — in fact, when the officer asked him to perform the walk and turn test, Oberthaler said he couldn’t do it if he were sober. He agreed to give a preliminary breath sample, but in three attempts, he put his tongue over the tube each time and gave no reading.

Oberthaler refused to give a voluntary blood sample and was taken to Wisconsin Heart Hospital for a mandatory one.

He was found to have had prior OWI convictions in 1989, 1991, 1999, 2005 and 2007.

2nd-offense suspect didn't know where he was

A 30-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested at 2 a.m. last Tuesday on suspicion of drunken driving, second offense, after a traffic stop in the 6700 block of West North Avenue.

A patrol officer reported seeing him driving at an estimated 55 mph in the 25 mph zone and gave chase. It took five blocks for the officer to catch up to him, stopped for a red light at 71st Street.

When the officer turned on his emergency lights, though, the man drove off through the red signal, stopping only when the officer hit his siren as well.

The suspect thought he had just arrived at his destination, Leff’s Lucky Town — which is actually on State Street. He was in fact parked in front of Shepherd’s Sports Bar, and he told the officer he intended to go in and meet friends there.

But Shepherd’s, the officer pointed out, was locked up, dark, and had been closed as a business for about three weeks. The officer found the driver's confusion about his whereabouts noteworthy since the man lives just three blocks from where he was stopped.

The suspect could barely perform field sobriety tests without falling over and blew a .16 blood alcohol concentration on a breath test. He had a prior conviction for OWI and was given a mandatory court date of Feb. 6.

West Allis woman gets 1st OWI citation

At 2:51 a.m. Sunday, a 24-year-old West Allis woman was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, first offense, after a traffic stop for a non-working brake light and suspended registration.

An OWI Task Force patrol officer spotted the faulty light at the stop light at Blue Mound Road and Glenview Avenue, ran her plates, and pulled her over just east of Pleasant View Street.

Noting her bloodshot, glassy eyes and slow, slurred speech, the officer asked her to perform field sobriety tests, which she had trouble completing. She blew a .16 blood alcohol concentration on an evidentiary breath test.