Accused Drunk Driver Had .38 Blood Alcohol Level, Police Say

A 34-year-old Milwaukee woman drove through the Village of Wauwatosa with nearly five times the legal limit of alcohol in her bloodstream, a criminal complaint says.

In many people, her blood alcohol concentration – .38, based on a blood sample tested by the State Crime Lab – could have caused unconsciousness or death. But she kept driving, and even performed some intricate if highly illegal and dangerous manuveurs before being arrested.

Myesha V. Bledsoe was charged Tuesday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court  with one count of second-offense operating while intoxicated. If convicted, she faces up to six months in jail and $1,100 in fines.

According to police reports and the criminal complaint:

As previously reported, at 8:16 p.m. on Sept. 30, a caller reported a southbound driver, later proved to be Bledsoe, veering into oncoming traffic on Wauwatosa Avenue and then running a red light at Milwaukee Avenue.

The witness stopped and waited for that light but then found Bledsoe stopped in front of her at a green light at Wauwatosa and Harmonee avenues.

Bledsoe proceeded after drivers honked at her, but she then went down Wauwatosa Avenue and sailed through the intersection at West State Street and into the Chancery parking lot beyond, hitting a curb and nearly striking the lot’s rear retaining wall.

Next, she pulled out onto State Street, the witness said, and drove east to 70th Street. She turned south there and performed a slow and clumsy three-point turn, partly on the railroad tracks.

Continuing her escapade, she turned back onto State, driving west completely in the eastbound lane, as other drivers honked and swerved to avoid her.

She finally pulled over of her own accord in the 7100 block, on the right side of the street, where officers shortly arrived. When asked if she had been drinking, she said yes – she had consumed a fifth of Hennessy cognac. Officers also found a 200ml bottle of vodka on the floor in front of the driver’s seat, three-quarters empty.

The woman could barely stand, and although she willingly attempted field sobriety tests, the arresting officer halted them when she was unable to perform the steps.

Officers did not even attempt a breath test and took her for a mandatory blood sample.

On probation for her first OWI conviction in 2009, when she caused an injury, she was sent to the county jail.

According to the criminal complaint, her blood sample came back at .38 blood alcohol concentration. The baseline limit to drive in Wisconsin is .08, and while there are no further legal limits above that, it is accepted that medically, few people can stay conscious with a BAC much above

She was to have made her initial appearance in court Friday.