Crash results in serious injuries, fifth OWI charge

ccused of crashing his vehicle and seriously injuring his passenger was charged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court last week with fifth-offense drunken driving.

Michael J. Sullivan, whose driver’s license had been revoked because of his prior drunken driving convictions, is also charged with a second felony — second-degree recklessly endangering safety — and misdemeanor counts of operating a vehicle after his license was revoked and failing to have an ignition interlock device on his vehicle.

According to a criminal complaint, at 9:14 p.m. June 22, Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputy Johnathan Chang responded to a severe crash detection alert, perhaps from a cell phone, and found a severely damaged vehicle off the roadway on Highway H in the Town of Fredonia.

Chang noticed the vehicle was still warm, meaning it was recently operated, and found Sullivan in the drivers seat making small movements.

A passenger was face-down on the dashboard. Neither that person nor Sullivan had been wearing seat belts and both suffered significant cuts to their heads and faces. The passenger was initially unresponsive, the complaint states.

Chang said Sullivan’s speech was slurred and his breath smelled of alcohol. Sullivan repeatedly asked for a lighter for his cigarette and claimed not to know the name of his passenger, even though he referred to him by his first name and continuously apologized to him, according to the complaint.

The passenger had to be extracted from the vehicle and was taken by ambulance to Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, then flown by helicopter to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.

Field sobriety tests were not conducted because of Sullivan’s “agitated behavior,” but a sample of his blood was drawn, the complaint states. The results of the blood test are pending. 

Although the legal threshold for intoxication is a blood alcohol level of .08, Sullivan is subject to .02 limit because of his prior drunken driving convictions.

According to court records, he was convicted of operating while intoxicated four times between 1990 and 2023 in Ozaukee and Washington counties.

During a June 24 court hearing, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain set Sullivan’s bail at $15,000 and ordered him to maintain absolute sobriety, not drive and submit to alcohol monitoring if released from jail. Court records indicate he posted bail and was released this week.

Fifth-offense operating while intoxicated and second-degree recklessly endangering safety are each punishable by a maximum five years in prison and five years of extended supervision.