Cop charged with drunken driving fired
Chief said he violated department’s core values
A Milwaukee police officer facing his third drunken-driving case has been fired.
Brian S. Petersen, 46, of West Allis, is charged with having a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit and hitting a car and sideswiping a second in November.
Petersen faces misdemeanor charges of hit-and-run and third offense operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He is scheduled for a plea and sentencing hearing Thursday. According to a criminal complaint: A concerned driver called West Allis police about 5:15 p.m. Nov. 20 to report a hitand-run.
The man said he was following a Chevrolet Impala that was driving erratically and had hit a curb and rear-ended a car at National Ave. and S. 92nd St.
The driver kept following the Impala, watching as it sideswiped a parked car. The Impala eventually turned into a credit union parking lot and “beached itself” on a median.
Officers arrived and noted Petersen had a strong odor of alcohol. Petersen admitted to drinking half a bottle of vodka and taking a prescription sleep aid earlier in the day.
He performed poorly on the sobriety tests and registered a 0.23 blood alcohol level on a breath test — nearly three times the legal level required for proof of intoxication.
Petersen has past drunken driving convictions in Waukesha County in 1994 and in Milwaukee County in March 2016. His attorney did not immediately return a call or email for comment Friday.
Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission accepted Interim Chief Alfonso Morales’ decision to fire Petersen for two counts of violating the department’s core value of integrity by failing to obey state laws.
It appears the discipline relates to his open criminal case.
A Milwaukee police spokeswoman confirmed the recently fired Petersen was a defendant in the criminal case, but declined to provide any more information and advised a reporter to file an open records request.
A request for his disciplinary records is pending.