Woman arrested for OWI after freeway hit and runs in Milwaukee County

MILWAUKEE COUNTY (CBS 58) – A woman is arrested for driving drunk after police say she hit a wall and a semi-truck before passing out in front of her kids at home.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s office says they received a call about a possible drunk driver who was weaving across all lanes of traffic on I-43 southbound near Capitol Drive. The caller told deputies he saw the vehicle behind him near Silver Spring when it hit a wall and continued to follow and give the vehicle’s plate and location. Investigators say the driver hit a semi-truck and continued until exiting at Lapham Street.

Deputies say when they arrived at the woman's home they found the front door open and children inside yelling “Mom!” Investigators say they found the mother passing out in the bathroom.

Emergency personnel and child protective services were called. The children were allowed to stay at home with an 18-year-old brother contacted by deputies who had been babysitting them earlier in the day.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the 37-year-old Milwaukee woman admitted to drinking beer from 2:00-7:00 p.m. at a bar in Grafton before driving home. She did not remember crashing into anything. Deputies say she tested a .147 on a preliminary breath test.

In a release, Sheriff Schmidt gave the following statement:

"In this incident, children were left alone while the parent parties, drives drunk, hits and runs, collapses at home, gets arrested in front of her children - what an example NOT to follow! The disregard of the laws for driving drunk exceeded the fear of getting caught. The epidemic of drunk driving is resulting in lost lives, seriously injured people, property damage and children suffering. How about making the fear of the penalties of getting caught greater than the selfish ease of breaking the law. What do you think? Call your legislators."