Waukesha man with 4-year-old in car charged with third OWI
A Waukesha man with a 4-year-old in the back seat was charged with his third drunken-driving offense after refusing to pull over despite striking several vehicles and a barrier wall on I-41 near Mayfair Road, officials said this week.
Steven P. Swieciak, 36, continued driving north into Waukesha County until his vehicle’s tires were flattened by Menomonee Falls police on Appleton Ave. near County Line Road, the Milwaukee County Sheriff ’s Office said in a news release Wednesday. According to the release: Milwaukee County sheriff ’s dispatch received calls about 4:15 p.m. Tuesday from drivers saying they had been struck by a black Toyota on I-41 northbound near Mayfair Road. One driver said he followed the vehicle and saw it hit a barrier wall near Capitol Drive, continue driving with a flat right front tire and exit at Appleton Ave.
Dispatch notified the Menomonee Falls Police Department and Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office. Menomonee Falls police spotted the vehicle and deployed stop sticks when Swieciak did not stop. Swieciak finally pulled over near County Line Road with three flat tires.
When Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputies arrived, they found a 4-yearold boy in the back seat restrained in a child seat and detected an odor of alcohol on Swieciak’s breath.
Swieciak was taken into custody after registering a blood-alcohol content of 0.15, nearly twice the level considered evidence of intoxication in Wisconsin.
Swieciak was charged with OWIthird offense with a passenger under the age of 16 in the vehicle. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of hit-and-run as well as possible other charges in Waukesha County.
The boy was turned over to child protective services.