Man who hit vehicle after being kicked out of bar guilty of felonies

A 25-year-old Fredonia man who crashed his pickup truck into a car on Fredonia’s main drag on a Sunday morning last year after being kicked out of a bar for being too drunk, then sped off, pleaded no contest to two felonies in Ozaukee County Circuit Court last week but was spared time in prison.

Judge Adam Gerol, who accepted the pleas of Robert W. Baker III to first-degree recklessly endangering safety and hit and run involving injury, as well as misdemeanor counts of causing injury while driving drunk and possession of marijuana, placed Baker on probation for three years and ordered him to serve 10 months in the county jail as a condition of probation during a May 5 hearing.

According to a criminal complaint, a sheriff’s deputy was called to the intersection of Fredonia Avenue and Edmaro Street just before noon on Oct. 20, 2024, for a report of a blue 2015 Chevy Silverado pickup truck with deer antlers on the dashboard that hit a vehicle and drove off.

The caller provided a license plate number of the truck and authorities subsequently identified the driver as Baker, who they learned had been kicked out of Jen’s Place in Fredonia for being intoxicated.

An area resident provided video footage of the crash from a home surveillance system that showed Baker’s truck traveling west on Fredonia Avenue at speeds estimated to be more than double the 25 mph limit. The truck hit the other vehicle on the driver’s side as it was turning left from Edmaro Street onto Fredonia Avenue, causing it to spin around.

The pickup truck appeared to slow down only because of the impact, then sped away, the complaint states.

The driver of the vehicle that was hit said his neck hurt and he requested an ambulance.

A deputy located a truck that had deer antlers on the dashboard and significant front end damage and saw Baker and a woman who was a passenger in the truck on the ground hugging. 

Baker, the deputy said, appeared highly intoxicated. As he stood up, he lost his balance and caught himself by grabbing trees and shrubs. His eyes were bloodshot, he was having difficultly speaking and forming sentences and he was disheveled, with his pants unzipped, according to the complaint. 

When the deputy asked him about the crash, Baker said he assumed he had hit a deer.

A breath test showed Baker had an alcohol level that was at least twice the legal limit, the complaint states.

Baker and his passenger each had marijuana vaping devices, and a third device was found in the truck. 

After being arrested, Baker told authorities he was not involved in a crash and, although he admitted to being at Jen’s Place,  he denied being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

An employee of Jen’s Place told authorities that Baker was served one drink and two shots at the bar, which then refused him further service because he appeared to be drunk.

During last week’s hearing, Gerol ordered Baker to maintain absolute sobriety and not to enter taverns or other establishments whose primary purpose is serving alcohol while on probation.

He was also ordered to pay $5,782 in restitution to the owner of the vehicle he hit.