Body camera footage shows wrong-way driver on freeway hitting Milwaukee County squad car New Year's Day
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Newly released video shows a wrong-way driver hitting a Milwaukee County Sheriff's squad car on New Year's Day. 23-year-old Zachariah Counsell was driving northbound -- the wrong direction -- on I-43 Southbound near Highland Avenue just after 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 when he struck a Sheriff Deputy's vehicle.
According to a criminal complaint and seen in the body camera video, Counsell had a hard time keeping his balance as he got out of his vehicle, needing help from other deputies as he was walked to their squad car.
Zachariah Counsell
Responding officials say he had a "glazed look on his face and had vomited on himself." Once out of the vehicle, the Deputy asked the suspect for his driver's license, to which he responded with his name, Zacharia Counsell. He then asked if he could call his dad.
As they searched his car, which had airbags fully deployed, they reportedly found scattered marijuana. At one point in the video, you hear the Sheriff's Deputy say, "he is stoned."
When asked how much he had to drink, Counsell said "a lot" and was on his way to a strip club. According to the criminal complaint, because of "frigid temperatures" on Jan. 1, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's office took Counsell to the sallyport of the Milwaukee County Jail to complete a field sobriety test. However, Counsell refused to complete one and reportedly vomited in the back of the squad car.
The criminal complaint indicates that Counsell had been driving between 30 and 45 miles per hour in the wrong direction for around two miles.
Counsell faces two counts: second-degree recklessly endangering safety and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence - second offense. If found guilty, he could be fined up to $26,1000 and face 10 years in jail. Upon conviction, the court would order that he not be able to drive for at least one year, also ordering that any vehicle he drives have an ignition interlock device.
He was in court on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty. He's due back on Jan. 14.