Driver was drunk when he caused crash, complaint says

A 55-year-old man was charged last week in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with driving drunk in the oncoming traffic lane when he hit another vehicle on South Spring Street in Port Washington.

Cedarburg resident C. Todd Jayne, also identified in court records as Christopher Todd Jayne, faces a felony count of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and first-offense operating while intoxicated causing injury, a misdemeanor. 

According to the criminal complaint, an officer responding to a report of an accident on South Spring Street at Maritime Drive on the city’s far south side at 12:03 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, found two badly damaged vehicles.

One of them was a Chevrolet Suburban driven by Jayne, who had blood on his forehead and smelled of alcohol, the complaint states.

Jayne said he had only one drink at 3 p.m. the previous day and was on his way to Taco Bell, presumably in Saukville. 

The driver of the other vehicle said he was driving south when he looked down at his phone momentarily. When he looked up, the man said, he saw headlights coming toward him and the collision occurred. 

Authorities determined that Jayne was driving north when he moved into a left turn lane, but instead of making the turn, he continued driving north in the southbound lanes, according to the complaint.

A preliminary breath test showed Jayne, who did not have a driver’s license, had a blood alcohol level of .20, the complaint states.

The driver of the vehicle Jayne hit, who was treated at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, suffered abrasions on his hands, air bag burns and bruises on his collar bone and hips from his seat belt, according to the complaint.

During a Nov. 4 court hearing, Circuit Court Commissioner Barry Boline allowed Jayne to be released from jail in lieu of a $5,000 signature bond and ordered him to maintain absolute sobriety and not drive.