Several Drunken Drivers Hauled in Over Memorial Day Weekend

Wauwatosa police made at least four drunken driving arrests over the holiday weekend, including one that was the driver's fifth offense, making it a felony.

Five strikes and he's out

At 8:35 p.m. Sunday, a 50-year-old Wauwatosa man was arrested for his fifth drunken driving offense, a felony, after another driver pulled up alongside a patrol officer and said he had been following the man and had seen him asleep at the wheel.

The officer followed the suspect and stopped him in the 2600 block of North 68th Street. The man had turned off his engine and could not roll down his window without help from the officer. He could not say how long he had been drinking and could not remember his phone number, giving four different versions, including two with the wrong number of digits. He failed a field sobriety test when it was stopped for his own safety after he nearly fell over.

At least he's honest

At 6:47 p.m. Sunday, a 59-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for drunken driving, first offense, after police received a call from a woman who had seen the man speeding, swerving and then striking a curb and blowing out a tire. She reported that he had pulled his crippled car into the lot at Hall Chevy, 11011 W. North Ave., and walked away while she followed him.

The man was found at the nearby Walgreens store at 2275 N. Mayfair Rd. During a field sobriety test, the man said, “I’m drunk.” Police determined that he certainly was and booked him.

Task force does its job

At  11:31 p.m. Saturday, during a Memorial Day weekend deployment, police arrested a 26-year-old Rhinelander man for driving while intoxicated, second offense, and for possession of alcohol in a vehicle after he was stopped for having no license plates and a headlight out.

A breath test registered a .06 blood alcohol concentration, below the prohibited level of .08, but the man did not perform well on a field sobriety test and had an open and three-quarters empty 23.5-ounce malt liquor can in the car. He had been arrested once before for OWI in 2009.

The man claimed he had not been drinking the 12 percent alcohol beverage in the car, but only took it with him on his way to see his girlfriend because he "didn't want to waste it."

Fix those brakes while you wait to get your license back

At 10:14 p.m. Friday, a 44-year-old Brookfield man was arrested for drunken driving, second offense, after he rear-ended another driver at the stoplight at North Mayfair Road and West North Avenue.

The woman whose car was struck suspected the man had been drinking and called police. She said that after they pulled their cars off the road and into a parking lot to exchange insurance information, he first raised his hood and poured brake fluid into the engine.

The man told officers his brakes were not working properly and that was the cause of the accident. But the officer said the man smelled of alcohol and failed a field sobriety test. He blew a .21 blood alcohol content reading on a breath test, more than double the legal limit.