Driver charged with pulling up to restaurant drunk, leading cops on chase

A 27-year-old woman was charged Monday in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with leading police officers on a high speed chase from Saukville into Port Washington after an employee of a fast food restaurant reported she had pulled up to the drive-through drunk.

The Saturday night, April 11, chase ended when the driver officers were chasing,  Sierra M. Deloach, parked near her Port Washington home and ran from her car before an officer grabbed her, according to the criminal complaint. 

At one point during the arrest, Deloach said she was suffering from the coronavirus and had a fever, but after a nurse at an area hospital took her temperature, she said she lied about being sick, the complaint states.

Deloach is charged with one felony count of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and misdemeanor counts of third-offense drunken driving and obstructing an officer. 

The incident began around 9:30 p.m. when the manager of the Culver’s restaurant in Port Washington called police to report that a driver currently at the drive-through was intoxicated. That driver was later identified as Deloach.

When an officer arrived, Deloach had already left, but a Saukville officer who heard the report of an intoxicated driver spotted Deloach’s car at the drive-through of the McDonald’s restaurant in Saukville a short time later. 

The officer, who parked his car and walked up to Deloach’s vehicle, said she was moving slowly, had droopy eyes and had trouble rolling down the window of her car, according to the complaint. The officer asked her to park her car in the lot so they could talk, but Deloach said she was first going to pay for her food. 

The officer returned to his car and was waiting for Deloach when he saw her pull out of the drive-through, turn off her headlights and drive the wrong way for a moment on Foster Street before turning east onto Green Bay Avenue and accelerated to 50 mph, the complaint states.

With several squad cars chasing her, Deloach drove into Port Washington, turned her car lights on and, with a squad car parked there, stopped for a moment at the roundabout at Grand Avenue and Highway LL before pulling away and continuing east, according to the complaint.

A short distance later, an officer deployed tire spikes at West Portview Road, but Deloach avoided them and drove away. 

She eventually turned into an alley off Lincoln Avenue, stopped her car and ran across a yard to a house. An officer who was chasing Deloach got out of his car, drew his handgun and ordered her to show her hands. She ignored him, but the officer was able to grab her and handcuff her. 

When the officer asked her to perform field sobriety tests, Deloach said, “I’m drunk,” the complaint states.

Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Paul Malloy on Monday set Deloach’s bail at $5,000.

Second-degree recklessly endangering safety is punishable by a maximum five years in prison and five years of extended supervision.