WAUSAU PILOT AND REVIEW
WAUSAU, Wis. — A report of a suspicious vehicle in a Wausau neighborhood led police to arrest a 35-year-old Wausau man suspected of his fifth operating while intoxicated offense.
Codey R. Opper appeared Friday in Marathon County Circuit Court, where he was ordered held on a $5,000 signature bond, with the first $500 to be paid in cash. The felony charge stems from an early morning July 4 traffic stop on South 9th Avenue.
Police were dispatched at about 2 a.m. to 1103 Sherman Street in regard to a suspicious vehicle complaint. The calling party told police they noticed a vehicle parked in front of his home with a burned out tail lamp.
When an officer arrived he observed the vehicle leaving east on Sherman Street before turning south South 9th Avenue. The vehicle was displaying an expired temporary registration along with another license plate in the rear window, also expired, police said.
Police stopped the vehicle, driven by Opper, who allegedly had a bloody Mary in a cup stashed in the door pocket of the driver’s side door. Opper, whose license was suspended indefinitely for insurance cancellation and for not having an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) installed in his vehicle, refused field sobriety tests and refused to submit to a chemical test of his blood.
Police did obtain a blood sample after obtaining a warrant. The results of the blood test are pending.
Opper was previously convicted of OWI in 2006, 2011 and 2014, court records show.
A preliminary hearing is set for July 15.
