By Shereen Siewert
A 57-year-old Marshfield man is facing his sixth drunken driving charge after a complaint about an erratic driver led to a stop in which he registered a blood alcohol concentration of 14 times his legal limit.
Daniel M. Strohkirch is being held on a $20,000 bond on the charge, which was filed Tuesday in Marathon County Circuit Court.
According to a criminal complaint, Marathon County dispatch at about 3:45 p.m. Monday, Aug. 8 broadcasted a Attempt to Locate on a vehicle reported to be swerving all over the road with an aggressive driver. A deputy located the vehicle, a Dodge Ram pickup, on Bus. Hwy. 51 in Rothschild. After the driver pulled into a parking lot at 1029 E. Grand Ave., he was stopped by police.
After allegedly noting an odor of intoxicants and observing slow, slurred speech, an Everest Metro Police officer found an open bottle of whiskey in the vehicle, according to court records. Police say Strohkirch had difficulty standing and had to brace himself against the side of the pickup.
A preliminary breath test showed a BAC of 0.28 percent, more than three times the legal limit for most drivers in Wisconsin. Stohkirch, however, has a 0.02 percent limit due to his five prior OWI convictions, the most recent of which was in 2003 in Virginia.
Results from a chemical test of Stohkirch’s blood are pending.
Stohkirch is set to appear Aug. 18 at a preliminary hearing.
