Woman who racked up charges guilty of child abuse, other crimes

A 48-year-old woman charged in January with choking one teenager and hitting another during a dispute over a party held at her Town of Saukville home, then racking up six additional felony charges in three separate cases, pleaded no contest and guilty to several of the charges in Ozaukee County Circuit Court Monday.

The pleas of the woman, who Ozaukee Press is not naming to protect the identity of her victims, were accepted by Judge Sandy Williams, who found her guilty of physical abuse of a child and bail jumping, both felonies, and misdemeanor counts of battery, third-offense operating while intoxicated and possession of cocaine.

Williams sentenced her to probation, 30 days in the county jail for child abuse and 90 days in jail for operating while intoxicated.

Several other charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement but read into the record, which means Williams could consider the facts surrounding them when sentencing her.

The initial case against the woman, charging her with physical abuse of a child-intentionally causing harm and strangulation and suffocation, as well as two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and battery, was filed on Jan. 5.

Williams set her bail at $750 and ordered her not to possess or consume alcohol or controlled substances and to wear a constant alcohol-monitoring bracelet if released from jail.

The woman posted bail almost immediately, and at 6:18 p.m. on the day of her release police officers were called to a home on South Judge Drive in Saukville by a man who said she showed up at his home, was in his bedroom and refused to leave.

When officers arrived, the man told them he found an alcoholic drink in the bedroom and a bottle of Captain Morgan rum behind the refrigerator, which must have been brought to the house by the woman because he doesn’t drink, according to a criminal complaint.

The woman admitted bringing the rum to the house and said she intended to drink it.

She was charged with felony bail jumping on Jan. 7 and Williams set her bail at $5,000 with the same prohibitions against possessing or consuming alcohol and controlled substances.

The woman posted bail on Jan. 9 and made it to Feb. 5 without another run-in with the law. That is when she was charged with two additional counts of felony bail jumping after her constant alcohol-monitoring bracelet detected alcohol on Feb. 3.

A warrant was issued for her arrest, which happened on Feb. 9 when an officer spotted her car heading west on Dekora Street in Saukville. The officer knew her license had been suspended and records showed she was wanted in connection with the second bail jumping case.

The officer arrested the woman, who was a passenger in the car, and as she was being booked into the county jail, her purse was searched. In it authorities found a white powdery substance that tested positive for cocaine, according to a complaint charging her with possession of cocaine and two additional counts of felony bail jumping.

Williams set her bail at $10,000 and the woman remained in jail.

The woman’s trouble with the law began on Saturday, Jan. 3, when Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputies were called to her house and met with two teenage girls, 15 and 18, who said they were attacked by the woman, and a 13-year-old who witnessed the incident.

They told the deputies the woman, who was upset about a party that had been held at the house the night before and wanted a bathroom cleaned up, went into the room where the 15-year-old and witness were sleeping and dumped ice water on them, according to the complaint filed in that case.

That triggered an argument that evolved into a scuffle, with the woman swinging at the 15-year-old, then sitting on top of her on the floor. The girl said the woman wrapped her hands around her neck and began choking her. She said she couldn’t breathe, the complaint states.

The two other girls attempted to pull the woman off the 15-year-old, and in the process the woman hit the 18-year-old in the face, according to the complaint.

Deputies noticed red marks and scratches on the 15-year-old’s neck and collarbone area and swelling and redness on the 18-year-old’s face.

Deputies were told the woman had left the house, possibly to go to her boyfriend’s home, and was probably drunk. One of the deputies went to the boyfriend’s home at 1:02 a.m. and listened while he called the woman. The woman, who was slurring her words, said she was at a bar, the complaint states.

A deputy who was checking area bars for the woman’s car spotted it at the intersection of Mill Street and Highway 33 in the Village of Saukville and pulled it over. The woman was driving and had glassy eyes, smelled of alcohol and was speaking slowly and slurring her words, according to the complaint.

She told the deputy that although she had two drinks earlier in the day, she was not drinking at the bar she was at, just playing video gambling games.

Field sobriety tests indicated she was impaired and two types of breath tests showed she had an alcohol level of either .09 or .10, the complaint states.