Crime & Safety
Impaired Driver with Children in Car at 1 AM Says She Couldn't Find Hotel With Pool
A West Allis woman was wearing sunglasses and talking on a phone at 1 a.m. when she was stopped for nearly hitting a median on Moorland Road. She said she was lost and had driven around for seven hours.
A West Allis woman drove while impaired with children in her car, telling officers after she nearly hit a median at 1 a.m. that she had been on a seven-hour quest to find a Brookfield hotel to go swimming, charges allege.
Crystal M. Zehe, 31, was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Tuesday with possession of narcotic drugs and first offense operating while intoxicated with a minor in the vehicle. If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison and $11,100 in fines.
According to the criminal complaint:
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At 12:50 a.m. Saturday, a Brookfield police officer saw a vehicle nearly strike a median on northbound Moorland Road, while driving straight in a left-turn only lane near Brookfield Square mall.
The driver — Zehe — had three young children in the car and was talking on a cell phone and wearing sunglasses, even though it was nearly 1 a.m.
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Zehe told the officer they were on their way to the on Bluemound Road to go swimming and they had left her West Allis home at 6 p.m. The officer said he didn’t believe it would take seven hours to find a hotel and there was no Marriott on Bluemound, but Zehe said she had gotten lost several times.
Zehe failed several field sobriety tests and said she had been prescribed several medications she no longer takes because they are too powerful. However, the officer found several open bottles of alcohol in the car along with prescription bottles of Clonazepam and Adderall, and two Oxycodone pills.
Zehe failed to appear in court Tuesday and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
