Man accused of ramming vehicle faces DWI felony

A 34-year-old man accused of ramming the vehicle in front of him on Port Washington’s lakefront Sunday, then pulling up next to it and shouting a profanity at the driver before speeding away, faces two felonies, one of which charges him with drunken driving.  

Joseph M. Garni of Port Washington, who at the time of the incident was free in lieu of bail in a second-offense driving while intoxicated case in Sheboygan County, was charged Monday in Ozaukee County Circuit Court with second and subsequent offense drunken driving causing injury, hit and run causing injury and misdemeanor bail jumping.

According to a criminal complaint, Port Washington police officers who were called to the intersection of Lake and Jackson streets at 8:40 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7, found a woman in the middle of the intersection who appeared to be having a panic attack. She told them her vehicle was hit by a Jeep Wrangler that left the scene.

The woman said she was driving south on Lake Street behind the Jeep when the driver, later identified as Garni, “brake-checked” her by slamming on his brakes, adding that she didn’t think she was following him too closely, the complaint states.

Shortly after the vehicles started moving again, the woman said, Garni brake-checked her again, so she passed him on the left and continued south on Lake Street, according to the complaint.

She said when she stopped at Jackson Street, Garni drove into the back of her vehicle, then pulled up next to her and yelled “f--- you” before speeding away west on Jackson Street, the complaint states.

About 20 minutes later, an officer spotted the Jeep on East Jackson Street near the scene of the accident and the condominium building where Garni lives and pulled it over.

Garni was the only person in the Jeep, and when an officer spoke to him he noticed Garni smelled of alcohol, his speech was slurred and he seemed confused. When asked where he was coming from, Garni replied, “Ozaukee,” according to the complaint.

Garni denied being involved in an accident, but said a group of people on scooters had been harassing him. When an officer pointed out the vehicle he is accused of hitting, Garni said he had never seen it before, the complaint states.

Garni agreed to perform one field sobriety test but then refused to continue the evaluation or take a breath test. A warrant was obtained and a sample of his blood was taken at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton.

The woman declined to be evaluated by medics at the scene but said she was going to have a friend take her to a hospital because she was experiencing back pain as a result of the accident.

During a court hearing on Monday, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Adam Gerol set Garni’s bail at $5,000 and ordered him to maintain absolute sobriety, not to enter establishments whose primary business is selling alcohol and to wear a constant alcohol monitoring device.

Garni was charged in March 2023 with second-offense driving while intoxicated in Sheboygan County. That case, which has been drawn out by motions and an appeal, is pending.