Woman falsely arrested for DUI files federal lawsuit
MILWAUKEE -- A woman is filing a federal lawsuit after a Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputy allegedly arrested her for drunk driving to cover up his fault in a car accident.
According to federal documents, Tanya Weyker was traveling south on Howell Ave. when Deputy Joseph Quiles drove through a stop sign resulting in an accident. Weyker's car spun out of control, and struck a tree in a median barrier.
The lawsuit filed in federal court claims three other Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputies, Scott Griffin, Byron Terry, and Sergeant Matthew Paradise, responded to this accident the night of February 20, 2013. The lawsuit alleges all officers conspired to cover up Quiles' role in the accident by having Weyker falsely arrested for driving while intoxicated.
The federal lawsuit says Griffin, Terry and Paradise failed to intervene or prevent Weyker's arrest. The lawsuit also says they all willfully \"ignored or disregarded\" evidence indicating Quiles was at fault for this accident. Attorneys say all responding deputies filed false and inaccurate information saying Weyker was driving drunk.
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is also mentioned in this lawsuit. It says Sheriff Clarke became aware of the video that proved Quiles was at fault in the February 20th accident. The video was made available to Sheriff Clarke within one week of the incident.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office declined to issue any charges against Weyker after blood tests showed she was completely sober. Assistant DA Ron Dauge noted, \"A MCSO squad t-bones the driver's car as she is heading south on Howell Avenue. The squad failed to stop/yield to an auto in the active traffic lane. Although the defendant admits that she was driving 45 in a 35 (mph) zone, that speed isn't excessive, just a violation of the speed limit. Defendant was cooperative with police and consented to blood test. Blood test shows no alcohol, no drugs at all. So no evidence of impairment. Ticket was also written for 'imprudent speed.' 45 in 35 might be in excess of posted limit, but doesn't appear to be \"imprudent.\" Further, driver's car suffered significant damage, both driver and passenger suffered injuries and were admitted into Froedtert as a consequence of the collision.\"
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Read the full Internal Affairs Report here
Read the full federal lawsuit filed against the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office