Latest news with #OWI-5
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Yahoo
CF woman arrested on suspicion of fifth drunk-driving offense
CHIPPEWA FALLS — A Chippewa Falls woman was arrested Saturday night in Lake Hallie on suspicion of her fifth drunk-driving offense. Stephanie S. Potter, 40, 412 Bridgewater Ave., was arrested on a possible charge of OWI-5. Lake Hallie Police Chief Edward Orgon said officers were sent to the Mega Holiday gas station, 2750 120th St., at 10:17 p.m. Saturday 'for an erratic female that was possibly under the influence of alcohol or drugs.' 'The officers approached a vehicle that was running at the gas pumps, identified the driver as Potter and observed signs of possible impairment,' Orgon wrote in a press release Monday afternoon. 'Potter voluntarily submitted to field sobriety testing which she failed and as a result, Potter was arrested.' An officer located suspected methamphetamine and THC paraphernalia in her vehicle as well as on her person, he wrote. 'After Potter refused the legal blood draw, the officer obtained a search warrant, and she was transported to the hospital for the blood draw,' Orgon wrote. Along with a possible OWI charge, Potter faces charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of THC, possession of drug paraphernalia and felony bail jumping. Potter was taken to the Chippewa County Jail for processing. The results of the blood test will not be known for several weeks as it will be sent to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory. Court records show Potter was convicted in September 2021 for possession of meth and was given a deferred sentence. Potter was convicted of her fourth OWI offense in Eau Claire County Court in 2013 and was ordered to serve one year in jail and placed on probation for three years. She also was convicted of neglecting a child, resisting an officer, and disorderly conduct in 2011 in Eau Claire County Court.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
Prison time ordered after man found guilty of fifth, sixth OWIs
EAU CLAIRE — An Eau Claire man was sentenced to three years in prison Monday, with three years' extended supervision after his release, after taking a plea agreement for his fifth and sixth OWIs. Jerry Bacinett, 51, could have faced up to a decade in prison for each OWI charge had he not taken the agreement. Under Wisconsin law the fifth and sixth convictions carry the same penalties, which can also include up to $25,000 in fines. Bacinett's fifth OWI dates to a filing from August 2023. He was arrested again in the fall of 2024, while the earlier case was still pending. That meant he technically faced two OWI-5 charges until his no contest plea convicted him of one and changed the second into an OWI-6 charge. He missed a court appearance for his arraignment in the latter case one month ago. A status conference five days later saw him enter a not guilty plea. The warrant for his arrest was quashed. Monday's proceeding initially looked like a rerun of the Jan. 10 hearing, with Bacinett not in court. But he wasn't skipping it, just running late. Bacinett told the court he wanted to accept the plea agreement. According to the criminal complaint, the earlier case began when officers responded to a call about a vehicle crashing into a utility pole. They found a truck with damage consistent with such an impact parked at a nearby residence. A woman who answered the door at the residence said Bacinett had come home and gone straight to bed. She woke him and told him police wanted to speak with him, but he had trouble standing when he reached the door. He told officers he had not been drinking, but they could smell alcohol on him. Bacinett failed sobriety tests, and a breath test returned a level of .228. A later blood draw came back even higher: .338. Bacinett's prior convictions included cases in Trempealeau, Buffalo and Clark counties dating to 1991.
