Driver accused of not letting passengers out before crash

A Port Washington man accused of refusing to let two passengers out of his pickup truck, then slamming into a guardrail on Highway 57 in the Town of Saukville in January was charged last week in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with drunken driving causing injury.

Nicholas G. Stagakis, 39, was also charged with two felony counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety.

The first-offense operating while intoxicated causing injury charge is a misdemeanor, as is a disorderly conduct charge he faces.

According to a criminal complaint, at 11:35 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, Ozaukee sheriff’s deputies were sent to the scene of the crash on Highway 57 at Highway W and found a Chevrolet pickup truck resting against a guardrail on the shoulder of the southbound lanes. The deputies reported the truck suffered significant damage and it appeared that the driver, who was later identified as Stagakis, swerved directly into the guardrail. 

A woman who was sitting in the front passenger seat was taken to a hospital. There was also a passenger in the back seat.

Stagakis told the deputies that he was driving south on Highway 57 when his truck suddenly veered to the right, adding that he just had “a bunch of work done” on the vehicle, the complaint states.

One of the deputies noticed Stagakis smelled of alcohol, his eyes were glassy and his speech was slightly slurred. Stagakis said the last drink he had was at 4 p.m. that day, adding he had agreed to drive his friends to and from a bar in Fredonia, where they were playing pool, according to the complaint.

Two breath tests indicated Stagakis had an alcohol level of between .10 and .14, the complaint states.

Two days after the crash, the front seat passenger told a deputy that she, the back seat passenger and Stagakis had been shooting pool when Stagakis suddenly decided they were leaving the bar.

The woman said Stagakis was driving “way over the speed limit” through Fredonia, at an estimated 40 mph in a 25-mph zone. She said she and the back seat passenger didn’t feel safe, so they asked Stagakis to let them out of his truck, according to the complaint.

Stagakis pulled over, the woman said, but before she and the back seat passenger could get out of the truck, Stagakis started driving again with the vehicle’s doors open. He turned south onto Highway 57 and an argument ensued. At one point, Stagakis threated to kill the back seat passenger and leave the person’s bloody body in a ditch, the complaint states.

Eventually, Stagakis said, “Fine, I’ll drop you off here” and slammed the truck, which was traveling at about 60 mph, into park, causing it to skid off the highway, according to the complaint. 

The front seat passenger told authorities that she hadn’t had a chance to put her seat belt back on after Stagakis pulled over in Fredonia and was thrown around the inside of the truck, hitting the windshield, dashboard, door and center console when the truck hit the guardrail. She said she lost consciousness for a short time as well as the feeling in her legs, the complaint states.

Stagakis is scheduled to make his initial court appearance before Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain on April 22.