Greenfield Woman Nearly Hits New Berlin Squad Car, Gets 5th OWI Charge, Police Say

A 47-year-old Greenfield woman is accused of her fifth drunken driving offense – a felony – after she nearly hit a New Berlin Police Department squad car, according to a criminal complaint.

Lisa M. Schmidt was charged Monday in Waukesha County Circuit Court with operating while intoxicated-fifth offense. If convicted, she faces up to three years initial confinement in prison, between $600 and $10,000 in fines and having her driver’s license revoked for two to three years.

Schmidt was pulled over by a New Berlin officer after she was spotted traveling 50 mph in a 35 mph zone in a red 1998 Pontiac at 124th Street and Lincoln Avenue. The officer was forced to pull onto the shoulder in order to not be hit by the Pontiac, according to the criminal complaint.

Schmidt also was not wearing her seatbelt, so the police officer pulled her over. The officer could smell intoxicants emanating from her and asked her if she was drinking. She didn’t answer, the police officer reported, but she shrugged her shoulders, according to the criminal complaint.

Schmidt stumbled and nearly fell over when the officer asked her to exit the Pontiac for field sobriety tests. Schmidt failed her field sobriety tests and had a .145 percent blood alcohol concentration, the complaint states.

Schmidt, who was released from custody Monday on $5,000 bail, has been convicted of drunken driving in 1990, 1991, 1995 and 1997, according to the complaint.