Four First-Time Drunken Drivers Reeled in Over Four Nights

Wauwatosa police arrested drunken drivers on each of four successive nights beginning Thursday, and none of the drivers was a Tosa resident. It was the first operating while intoxicated offense for each of them.

All presented interesting cases of why it's dangerous, illegal and not very smart to drive after drinking: a man passed out in traffic; a woman speeding past a waiting police officer at more than twice the speed limit; a woman wearing sunglasses in the dark; and a man who hit a parked car and fled, not knowing he'd lost his own license plate at the scene.

Red ... green ... red ... green...

At 2:31 a.m. Sunday, a 23-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested for drunken driving, first offense, after he was found asleep at the wheel while stopped at the traffic light on Menomonee River Parkway at West North Avenue.

A patrol officer watched while the traffic signal cycled through twice without the suspect’s car moving. Then he turned on his emergency lights and approached the car.

The driver's head was leaned against his window, and the officer had to knock and yell repeatedly to wake him. Then the man took his foot off the brake and began moving, but he stopped when ordered.

He failed a field sobriety test and registered a .15 blood alcohol content.

At a high rate of speed

At 1:44 a.m. Saturday, a 29-year-old Milwaukee woman was arrested for drunken driving, first offense, after she was stopped for speeding and reckless driving in the 6300 block of West Garfield Avenue.

A patrol officer said he had been parked facing west in the 6400 block of West North Avenue when he saw a light blue Cadillac turn east onto North Avenue from North 68^th Street, squealing its tires through the turn. The car then came at him at a speed he estimated at 55 to 60 mph in the 25 mph zone.

As the car passed him, he hit his emergency lights and the Cadillac made a sudden turn south onto North 64^th Street. The officer made a U-turn and followed, calling for assistance in catching a reckless driver, but the car soon pulled over.

The woman performed poorly on a field test and blew a .12 BAC on the Intoximeter.

Darker than night

At 3:43 a.m. Friday, a 47-year-old Waukesha woman was arrested for drunken driving, first offense, after she was found in her damaged car in the rear parking lot at 9700 Blue Mound Rd., wearing sunglasses.

The front end of the car was damaged, the car was leaking fluids and the left front tire was flat, but the woman said she could not remember having had an accident.

She could not keep her balance during a sobriety test and registered a BAC of .10.

Leaving certain evidence

At 2:34 a.m., a 21-year-old Brookfield man was arrested for drunken driving and hit and run after he hit a parked car in the 300 block of North 68^th Street.

The owner heard the crash and came out to find, besides his own damaged car, parts from the vehicle that hit it – including the license plate.

It turned out police didn’t even have to trace the plate, though. A state trooper parked nearby, watching the home of Gov. Scott Walker, reported seeing a red pickup truck run the light at Blue Mound and 68^th, and officers found the driver parked nearby, in the 7000 block of Wellauer Drive. The man registered a blood alcohol content of .12.