By Shereen Siewert
A 50-year-old Wausau man is facing his sixth drunken driving charge after police discovered his vehicle in a marshy ditch in Rib Mountain.
An investigation began just before 6 p.m. on Dec. 28 when an officer who was getting gas at Kwik Trip, 225451 Rib Mountain Drive, was approached by a man who showed the officer a truck with headlights in the ditch behind the gas station. The truck was unoccupied when the officer approached, but the engine was running and the headlines were still on.
A short time later the alleged driver, identified in court documents as Brian S. Carl, returned to the scene with four other people and began to attach a tow strap to the truck in the ditch, police said. Carl allegedly admitted driving the truck and said he swerved to avoid another driver, court documents state.
While the officer was giving instructions for field sobriety testing, Carl allegedly explained, “Don’t yell at me because my wiener hurts, okay?” The officer noted in his report that “the topic of wieners had not come up, so this was a highly unusual statement to make at the time.”
After sobriety testing was completed, Carl agreed to a preliminary breath test that showed he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.154 percent, according to court documents. Carl, who has a 0.02 percent alcohol restriction due to his prior OWI convictions, was transported to a local hospital for a chemical test of his blood before being taken to the Marathon County Jail.
Carl now faces charges of sixth-offense operating while intoxicated, a felony. During an initial appearance on Dec. 29, Reserve Judge Jill Falstad set a bond of $800 cash for Carl, whose prior convictions ranged from 1995 to 2002.
A preliminary hearing is set for March 22.
