On Thursday just before 10 p.m., a officer noticed a vehicle pull over to the shoulder on West County Line Road. The driver got out of the vehicle and crossed North Port Washington Road.
The officer pulled up to the 54-year-old Sheboygan man, rolled down his passenger window and asked if he needed any help. The man admitted he was lost enroute to Sheboygan. The officer explained the driver could head north and get back on Interstate 43 through Mequon. The man asked if there was an easier way so he wouldn’t get lost, and the officer directed him to the southbound ramp at County Line Road, explaining he could head south, since the entrance ramp was right in front of his car, then get off on the next exit, Brown Deer Road, and turn around.
The officer took note of the license plate and ran a Department of Transportation check. The registered owner of the vehicle had a revoked driver's license.
He later saw the same vehicle stopped in the 800 block of West Brown Deer Road. Just before the vehicle was about to get back onto I-43, the officer flipped on his emergency lights and pulled the vehicle over.
He could smell alcohol on the man's breath and asked if he’d been drinking. The driver admitted he had, and also claimed ownership of the vehicle, also explaining that he knew his license was revoked. His eyes were bloodshot and glassy so the officer asked him to complete the standard field sobriety test. He began with the alphabet, but the driver started several times, only making it to the letter T before becoming confused and stopping.
The driver told police he recently had a total knee replacement surgery and has trouble walking or standing. He said he would not be able to walk heel to toe, or stand on one foot due to his disability. The officer requested a preliminary breath test, which came back with a blood alcohol content of 0.174. Officers arrested the man for operating while under the influence and needed two sets of handcuffs to lengthen the distance between the cuffs, because the driver said he could not bend his arm behind his back.
At the station, an official breath test was given with the intoximeter and came back with a blood alcohol content of 0.16. The man was cited for operating with prohibited alcohol concentration and operating after revocation.
