Case against driver accused in OWI crash advances forward

A 23-year-old driver accused of being drunk when she blew a stop sign at a Town of Fredonia intersection and hit a Port Washington couple who were seriously injured in the March crash was bound over for trial last week in Ozaukee County Circuit Court on felony charges.

Judge Steve Cain ruled there is probable cause to support the charges against Fredonia resident Shelby A. Capp, which includes two counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety. She is also charged with two counts of operating while intoxicated causing injury and possession of drug paraphernalia, which are misdemeanors.

Capp pleaded not guilty to the charges during last week’s hearing.

She was initially charged with misdemeanor offenses, but the felony charges were added because of the severity of the Port Washington couple’s injuries.

According to a criminal complaint, at 12:18 a.m. Sunday, March 1, Ozaukee County deputies responded to a report of a crash at highways KK and H and found two heavily damaged cars — a Hyundai Sonata driven by Capp and a Subaru driven by a Port Washington woman whose husband was a passenger in the car.

Capp told deputies she was driving north on Highway KK from a Town of Port Washington bar to her home in Fredonia and “didn’t see the stop sign and hit the other car,” referring to the Subaru, which was traveling southeast on Highway H, the complaint states.

A deputy noted that Capp smelled of alcohol and saw an open bottle of vodka in her car, according to the complaint.

Capp said she went to the bar at 9:15 p.m. the night before the crash and had three alcoholic drinks before leaving to drive home, the complaint states.

Field sobriety tests indicated Capp was intoxicated. A preliminary breath test showed she had an alcohol level of .136 while an intoximeter breath test indicated her alcohol level was .12, according to the complaint.

After she was arrested, Capp asked a deputy to retrieve her phone and wallet from her purse. While doing so, the deputy found a grinder with suspected marijuana residue in it, the complaint states.

The Port Washington couple were taken to Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, then transferred to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. The woman suffered a broken sternum and ribs. Her husband suffered fractures to four vertebrae and a broken sternum, clavicle and ribs, according to the complaint.

Capp is free in lieu of a $10,000 signature bond. She has been ordered by Cain to maintain absolute sobriety and not to patronize bars, liquor stores or any other business whose primary purpose is to sell alcohol.