Drunken Driving Task Force Was Active Over the Holiday

The Southeast Wisconsin Multi-Jurisdictional OWI Task Force, of which the is a part, was out in force over Thanksgiving and the weekend, making four arrests.

Also as usual, more than one repeat drunken driver was arrested in Wauwatosa, but — and as is often the case – none of the drivers was from the city.

At 4:18 a.m. Sunday, a 23-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for drunken driving, first offense, after he flagged down a patrol officer to assist him with two flat tires and then showed evidence that he was too intoxicated to have been driving. He registered a 0.14 blood alcohol level on a breath test.

At 1:39 a.m. Saturday, a 29-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for drunken driving, first offense, after a patrol officer on duty with the Task Force pulled her over for erratic driving in the 2300 block of North Mayfair Road. She registered a 0.12 BAC.

At 1:31 a.m. Thursday, an officer working the Task Force arrested a 35-year-old New Berlin man for his second drunken driving offense after he was stopped for multiple traffic violations. He admitted he had been drinking and performed poorly on a field sobriety test but refused to take breath test, so he was taken to Wisconsin Heart Hospital for a mandatory blood draw. He previously had been convicted of OWI after an arrest in August 2008.

At 11:56 a.m. Wednesday, a 32-year-old West Allis woman was arrested on her third drunken driving offense after police were called to , 510 N. Mayfair Rd., on a report of a disorderly customer refusing to leave the drive-through lane. She was angry that the restaurant was out of beef. The driver also refused to follow police orders to stay in her car and could barely stand up on her own. She blew a 0.13 BAC.

Not drunk but under an influence

A non-Task Force arrest earlier in the week involved a man who was definitely impaired even though he hadn't had a drop to drink. He had overdone his own battle with narcotics addiction and shouldn't have been behind the wheel.

At 6:46 p.m. Tuesday, a 44-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for driving under the influence of a controlled substance after another man called police to report his erratic driving and failure to have his headlights on. The man’s speech was slurred and he could barely stand, but he did not smell of alcohol and registered a .00 on a breath test.

Drug recognition experts were called to the station and they determined that the man was under the influence of narcotics, probably methadone. After the man’s condition had cleared up a bit, he admitted he had earlier gone to Quality Addiction Management, 1610 Miller Park Way, where he had taken 150 mg of methadone.