What's my name again?

By: Spectator Staff

Posted: 9/29/08

Friday, Sept. 19

At 2:23 a.m., an officer on vehicle patrol noticed a vehicle traveling eastbound in the 200 block of Water Street with its headlights off. The officer stopped the vehicle in the 100 block of Water Street.

The driver was identified by his Wisconsin driver's license. There were three other passengers in the vehicle. The driver told the officer that the vehicle belonged to one of the passengers and he was used to driving his own vehicle with automatic headlights, so he had forgotten to turn them on.

The officer could smell alcohol coming from inside the vehicle. The driver said he had drank two beers, the last at 1 a.m. A second officer arrived on the scene to assist in administering a field sobriety test to the driver. He passed the tests and said he was driving the passengers home since they had been drinking.

Two of the passengers were identified by their Wisconsin driver's licenses. The third told the officer she didn't have identification with her and provided the officer with a name and birth date.

The two officers ran a search on the name and found that the person had moved out of state. The officer told the passenger he thought she didn't look as old as she had told them she was. She said she was actually 19-years-old and then provided the officers with her correct birth date and name, which they confirmed by an insurance card she had with her.

The officer explained to the woman that giving a false name was obstructing an officer and he could arrest her. The officer issued her an ordinance citation instead. While talking to her, the officer could smell the odor of alcohol from her and noticed that her eyes were glassy and bloodshot and that her speech was slurred. Her preliminary breath test registered a .13.

The officer spoke to one of the other passengers and could smell alcohol coming from her, and noticed that she appeared to be intoxicated. She registered a .16.

The officer issued both passengers citations for underage drinking, first offense. He also issued a verbal warning to the driver for failing to activate the car's headlights.