That's correct. >> And I heard >> revving the hobbies. >> Yeah. >> And she just it was revving very loud and kaboom. >> Okay. It wouldn't stop, huh? Okay. 122 dispatch on 2428. >> 122, go ahead. >> It's got an auto. A Adam, U Union, V Victor, 8890. AUV 8890. >> Every impaired driving case starts the same way, with an officer trying to match what they see against what they are being told. Here, the story from the driver is mechanical. The brakes gave out. But an officer is trained to treat that as one piece of a much larger picture, not the end of it. There is a legal wrinkle worth pausing on. The car did not come to rest on the road. It ended up on a porch. But because it was being driven on a public roadway when it lost control, the crash is still treated as a reportable traffic accident. Where the vehicle finally stopped does not change how the law sees it. >> 122 10-4. Yeah, I'm going to see what they want for a tow to get it off of there. It's still a reportable crash cuz they did enter the roadway. And then uh >> Uh the end of your first harmful impact is motor vehicle in transport cuz it's on the roadway. >> Yep. >> All right. >> All right. Hey, thanks, Jorge. >> Yep. >> Good morning. Hi, I'm Officer Barko. Waive to speak, please. Are you my driver? >> Yes, I am. >> Okay, I just need to see your driver's license. Everything okay? You don't need an ambulance or anything like that? >> No, the weird thing was if I backed out, but the brakes wouldn't stop. >> wouldn't stop the vehicle, huh? >> No. >> Okay. >> Cuz I was sitting cuz I was I have to go to work and I was going to pull my car. I pulled my cuz my daughter uses this car to go to school. >> Yeah. >> And I was going to put it right here. I'm just hopefully no one's hurt. >> Nobody's hurt, no. Nobody was Nobody was hurt in the vehicle or anything like that. >> I couldn't the the brakes just like they they just wouldn't they just what? Like it was like like super fast and they wouldn't stop. >> Weird. Yeah, okay. >> I don't know what I mean it was weird I mean cuz I backed the car >> Yeah. >> I'm upset. I'm sorry. I'm just a little disturbed and I >> Yeah, okay. >> little upset and um the brakes wouldn't stop and >> Morning. How are you doing? >> Good, good. >> Yeah, happy Monday morning. >> Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. Uh no, I don't need to come in. You Yeah, we need to get a tow to get that vehicle off of their porch. It looks like you're kind of in the into the >> Christ. >> into the >> Is there any damage to the car? >> Uh yeah, there's damage to the vehicle. Um I just need to see your driver's license and who's your insurance company? >> We got this should be in the car. >> I didn't find it, man. >> Yeah. Weird stuff happens sometimes. >> No, this is weird. No, the brakes just went like it was weird cuz I pulled out and the it just wouldn't stop. Like it just kept going. >> I need your driver's license. >> And it's in the car. >> Oh, it's in the car. Um well, I'm not going to have you go inside the car right now just cuz it's perched on the the there. And what's your old school the old fashioned way? >> I hope those I didn't ruin their home, right? >> No, you didn't ruin their Okay, and and you you Are you on any medications or anything like that? >> No. I just I just backed the car up. I was going to back up and and and it just didn't stop. >> Right. Right. Okay. I see your your eyes are really watery. Is have you been crying or anything like that or >> We're getting freaking evicted. >> You guys are getting evicted? I'm sorry to hear. Okay. And how much did you have to drink? >> Nothing. >> Nothing? No alcohol or anything like that? >> No. I was going to go to work this morning. I I work for a lady that has Parkinson's disease. >> Okay. So, you're going to be completely sober then? No alcohol on board or anything like that? >> No. I just backed the car out of the driveway. >> I get you. I get you. I just I want to make sure you're okay. >> Wisconsin law lets an officer act on what are called reasonable articulable observations. Watery, bloodshot eyes, the way a person moves and speaks, the circumstances of the crash itself. None of these alone proves anything, but together they give an officer the legal footing to investigate further. >> All right. We'll go run over here, Kim. We're going to go over here where it's nice and shady. All right. So, again, you're on no medications or nothing like that. You've you've had absolutely nothing to drink, right? You feel like you feel like >> I just I just I was just going to put the car on the street and it wouldn't it wouldn't stop. >> It wouldn't stop. Yes, so you're backing out of the driveway and it wouldn't stop and it's just continued all the way up until the >> No. I know it sounds strange, but >> No, no, no. We we'll we'll get to the bottom of it. I promise. Okay? All right. So, again, so you feel okay to drive though? >> Well Yeah. I mean, I do. I mean, I'm obviously not going to go to my job today cuz I work with a Parkinson's lady and I help her and you know >> All right. All right. >> it wouldn't it just wouldn't it wouldn't stop. >> Right. Perfect, Kim. Well, what I'm going to do is I'm going to run you through some field field sobriety tests here, okay? Just to make sure you're okay to drive. And as long as everything checks out, we'll go from there, all right? Any problems with your eyes, I need to know about? >> No. >> No, okay. Any problems with your legs or anything like that? >> No. >> Okay. All right, well, stand right there. All right, perfect. And put your feet together. Arms on your side. I want you to just follow the tip of my finger with your eyes and your eyes only. Do you understand? >> Yeah. >> All right. That investigation usually means standardized field sobriety testing. These are not pass or fail party tricks. They're designed to divide a person's attention between a mental task and a physical one, the same way driving does. The walk and turn asks someone to follow instructions and hold their balance at the same time. No, don't start yet. >> I don't have my balance on >> Kim, no, it's a >> I mean, I I don't know, but I don't have my balance >> I'll tell you when to It's a time test, Kim. I I have to tell you when to start and when to stop, okay? Feet together, arms on your side. >> Can we hold hands? >> No, we're not holding hands. Feet together, arms on your side. And you may begin. Remember to look at your foot, count it loud. Start where you Start where your left off. >> I can't. I just I don't have the balance on this one. It's my right foot that I have the balance on. >> Mhm. >> It doesn't matter. >> All right, you can stop and relax. All right, Kim. You said you had nothing to drink, right? >> No. >> No, no alcohol at all, so you're going to be zeros on this, right? >> I'm not going to do a breathalyzer. >> You're not going to do a PBT? Okay. All right, Kim. At this point, could you say that for me one more thing? One more thing, stand. All right, we're going to put your foot I'm going to I got to now you're placed under arrest suspicion of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. >> Don't resist. >> Kim, can I get my phone out of my >> No, we're not we're not right now. No, not right now. Arms behind your back, okay, Kim? At this point, I I feel you've had way too much either drink or a medication to be operating a motor vehicle, okay? Kim, Kim. >> Please don't hurt me. >> Kim, you're under arrest for operating a motor vehicle while >> An officer does not need a breath result to make an arrest. Under the totality of the circumstances, the vehicle up on the steps, the physical signs, and the field testing together can add up to probable cause. That is the legal standard for an arrest on suspicion of operating while intoxicated. After the arrest comes implied consent. In Wisconsin, driving on a public road counts as agreeing in advance to chemical testing once an officer has probable cause. A driver can still refuse, but refusal carries its own separate penalty, including a revocation of the license. Here is the part most people do not know. In Wisconsin, a first offense of this kind is not a crime at all. It is a civil forfeiture, a ticket. Wisconsin is the only state in the country that treats it that way. It only becomes a criminal charge in specific situations, like a child being in the vehicle or an alcohol level that is high enough. What would you have done in the officer's position? Let us know in the comments, and if you want more breakdowns of real stops and the law behind them, subscribe. >> That's fine.