Woman Chases Drunk Driver as He Commits Fifth Offense

A Milwaukee woman called police and then doggedly followed a drunk driver Friday for more than 20 minutes, even trying to block his way at one point, as he careened menacingly for miles through heavy traffic on some of the state's busiest roadways.

Charged the next morning with his fifth drunken driving offense was Brett Matthew Lieungh, 42, of 10829 W. Fairmount Ave., Milwaukee.

The woman first spotted Lieungh about 5:50 p.m. when she saw cars braking for his maroon Mercury headed southbound on Hwy. 45 near West Capitol Drive. He had swerved into the left emergency lane, nearly striking the median wall, then crossed all lanes and hit the right guard rail.

Lieungh continued south to West Lincoln Avenue., exited and drove west to 102nd Street. When he tried to turn around, the woman attempted to block him, but he got around her car, raced back to the freeway and drove northbound at speeds varying from a near-stop up to 80 mph, exiting onto North Mayfair Road.

A Germantown woman joined in the chase and both drivers followed Lieungh as he drove north on Mayfair, reporting along the way that he had hit curbs and nearly struck a pedestrian. Eventually, Lieungh stopped at a gas station on West Hampton Avenue. As the two women watched, he pulled in and drove his car into the building.

Police arrived moments later, at 6:13 p.m., to see Lieungh backing up over a garden planting. He could not stand or form complete sentences and was arrested after he refused to take field sobriety tests.

At first, Leiungh also refused to give a breath test, so he was taken to a hospital for a blood draw, having to be brought in in a wheelchair because he couldn't walk. Later, upon being booked, he did agree to a breath test and blew a 0.196 blood alcohol content.

Another multiple offender caught

At 4:41 p.m. Tuesday, a 37-year-old West Allis man was arrested for drunken driving, third offense, after police received a call warning of an impaired driver swerving and dragging a construction barrel underneath his car.

A patrol officer came upon the car stopped in traffic on North 60th Street at the traffic light at West Lloyd Street. The car was running but no one could be seen inside.

The officer approached the vehicle and found the driver slumped over toward the passenger door, snoring. After a few minutes of trying, the officer got the man to wake up, whereupon he said he was fine.

The officer told him he did not appear to be fine. So, the man said, “Call the police, then.” The officer told him he was the police, and the driver tried to crawl into the passenger seat, saying he would have his son drive. There was no one else in the car.

The man said he thought he was at North 97th Street and West Silver Spring Drive at the time. He reluctantly agreed to perform a field sobriety test but was unable to complete any of the steps without losing his balance and ended the tests on his own by turning, putting his hands behind his back and saying, “I’m ready to go.”

He blew a 0.15 BAC.