Revoked License Doesn't Trump Missing Interlock Device for Previous OWI Offender

A 24-year-old Grafton man was stopped for speeding at 12:42 a.m. by on Thursday at Interstate-43 and Brown Deer Road.

He was clocked going 72 mph in a 55 mph zone heading northbound on I-43 from the Brown Deer Road onramp. When the officer approachd the car, the man admitted he did not have a drivers license and that it was revoked.

A computereized check with both Wisconsin and Michigan transportation departments confirmed that the driver did not hold a valid license in either state. In fact, his Wisconsin license was revoked for a prior OWI offense which now restricts him to only driving vehicles with an ignition interlock device. That device is a small tube-like instrument that checks for a driver's blood alcohol content before the car will run.

The vehicle being driven was owned by the driver's girlfriend, so it did not have the ignition interlock device. When officers questioned the driver, he admitted that he knew he should not be drivining in a vehicle witout the device, but he did not think it matered because his license was revoked.

He was cited for operating after revocation, and violation of license restrictions for not having an interlock device.