Friday, May 3, 2013
Wisconsin's drunk driving-related incidents are the highest in the United States and state Legislators have crafted six bills to confront the issue, but they carries a hefty price tag.
Some state Republican Legislators want to toughen the laws for habitual drunk drivers and first-time drunk drivers if they cause an injury or killed someone, but the price tag for those laws could cost taxpayers up to $236 million, according to a story in the Wisconsin State Journal. Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) have introduced six bills to the Senate and House. The bills would: Because of the jail time provisions, the state expects to have to build 17 facilities that would each house 300 people. "A fiscal estimate from the state Department of Corrections put the cost of the bill regarding third and subsequent offenses at between $169 million and $204 million annually. Other agencies also weighed in, …
Sunday, December 9, 2012
An Oak Creek man arrested for drunk driving last week has six prior convictions, but only one since 1996. How much should that time span factor into what punishment he faces now, if at all?
Should the time between drunk driving arrests have an impact on how those people are handled in the courts? An Oak Creek man was arrested for operating while intoxicated last week near Mitchell International Airport. The 51-year-old man has six prior convictions, but only one in the last 16 years. If a person’s second OWI comes at least 10 years after the first, then it is generally treated like a “first offense” in Wisconsin. But if it happens a third time — no matter when any of them occurred — then the person is considered to have two first-offense convictions and a third-offense conviction. In the case of the Oak Creek man, he was given a two-year prison sentence for his sixth offense, in 2002, but it was “stayed,” essentially turning …
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Suspect, 43, is charged with 4th OWI after he gets stopped with alcohol in his system.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Joe Petrie
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012
A Franklin man is charged with felony drunk driving after police say he drove through Greendale with alcohol in his system. Tomislav Sunjic, 43, was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Tuesday with one count of fourth offense operating while intoxicated within five years and one count of operating a motor vehicle with a prohibted alcohol concentration. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison and $20,000 in fines. According to the criminal complaint: At 7:03 p.m. Sunday, a Greendale police officer spotted Sunjic speeding in an SUV on West Loomis Road. The officer followed the SUV, then saw it go through a yellow light, then a red light, so the officer decided to pull the vehicle over. The SUV then pulled into a parking lot …
Friday, June 8, 2012
Suspect is charged with felony drunk driving after he's caught in the village driving at twice the legal blood alcohol limit.
A 39-year-old Franklin man is facing felony drunk driving charges after he was caught driving in Greendale with a suspended license. Randy J. Romanowski was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Thursday with one count of fourth offense operating while intoxicated in a five year period, one count of operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration and one count of operating a motor vehicle after revocation of his driver’s license. If convicted, he faces up to 6 ½ years in prison and $10,000 in fines. According to the criminal complaint: A Greendale police officer was on patrol Monday near Eastway and Orchard Lane when he noticed Romanowski driving with a suspended driver’s license and pulled him over. Romanowski …
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Franklin man charged with his third OWI after driving down Loomis Road more than twice the legal limit.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Joe Petrie
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
A 41-year-old Franklin man is facing his third drunk driving charge after he was caught by Greendale police driving more than twice the legal limit. Todd E. Schultz was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court Tuesday with one count of third offense operating while intoxicated and one count of operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration. If convicted, he faces up to one year in county jail and $2,000 in fines. According to the criminal complaint: On Jan. 22, a Greendale police officer on patrol spotted Schultz driving southbound on West Loomis Road near West College Avenue and noticed the registration on his car was suspended for unpaid parking tickets. The officer pulled him over on the off ramp to South 76th Street…
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Southeast Wisconsin Drunk Driving Task Force will deploy on Saturday night.
In the hopes of taking drunk drivers off the road, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department and 15 other agencies that are part of the Southeast Wisconsin Drunk Driving Task Force will be out in full force for the Memorial Day weekend. Deployment of officers will start on Saturday at 8 p.m. and end at Sunday at 4 a.m. Police deparments participating are Greendale, Bayside, City of Brookfield police department, Franklin police department, South Milwaukee police department, Town of Brookfield police department, Wauwatosa police department, Wisconsin State Patrol, Menomonee Falls police department, Cudahy police department, St. Francis police department, Milwaukee police department, West Allis police department and Elm Grove police …
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
The Drunk Driving Task Force will be out in full force on Thursday.
Lt. William A. Brown of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office reminded people that officers will be out in full force, and this is "your warning" to not drive drunk. He said that according to a Dec. 19, 2009, report by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Wisconsin has the highest rate in the nation of people who admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year; 23.7 percent. In comparison, the national average is only 13.2 percent. Wisconsin is also ranked number one in the nation for binge drinking among adults. There are 15 agencies in the task force including Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office, City of Brookfield police department, Franklin police department, South Milwaukee police department, Town of …
Lika Phipps
11:12 pm on Saturday, May 18, 2013
Drinking is a privilege. So is driving. If you can't be responsible, they get taken away, because obviously some people aren't responsible enough, so they have to be treated like children. If you want to get trunk off of your tuches, do it at home and stay there. No one wants to deal with obnoxious people who think they're Benny Parsons and end up doing too much damage than what it's worth. more ›