Drunk Driving Suspect Nearly Hits Officer Head-On

As traffic stops go, this was an easy call.

A Wauwatosa patrol officer hit the flashing lights a moment after a speeding SUV passed him on the right – going in the opposite direction.

At 2:10 a.m. Saturday, a 40-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, first offense, and for reckless driving/endangering safety, after he nearly collided head-on with the officer.

The officer reported that he was driving westbound in the 7400 block of Blue Mound Road, in the left lane, when an oncoming white GMC Yukon passed him in on the right at 45 mph.

The officer whipped around to pursue in time to see the SUV veer sharply back into the eastbound lanes.

The driver pulled over without incident at North 68th Street, and the officer found that there was no vehicle associated with the temporary license displayed on the Yukon.

The driver smelled very strongly of alcohol but swore he hadn’t been driving eastbound in the westbound lanes and said he’d drunk only two light beers all evening. A moment later, though, he leaned out the window and vomited on the street.

The suspect was unable to complete all the steps of field sobriety tests without losing his balance, and he was arrested.

At the police station, he agreed to submit to a voluntary breath test, but he was unable to complete the necessary 20-minute observation period before the test without further vomiting. He was taken to Wisconsin Heart Hospital for a blood draw, where he vomited again.

The suspect has never held a valid Wisconsin driver’s license.