Waukesha incident leads to fourth OWI charge against Oconomowoc man

Published on: 6/18/2014

A 26-year-old Oconomowoc man was accused on June 15 of his fourth drunken driving offense in eight years.

Christopher Nell, W346 S3058 Holland Court, was charged on Monday, June 16, in Waukesha County Circuit Court with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, driving with a revoked license and misdemeanor drug possession. Nell has three prior OWI convictions since June 2006.

If convicted, Nell faces up to 71/2 years in prison and $13,5000 in fines. He would lose his driving privileges for at least two years.

According to the criminal complaint, Nell was shouting and hooting at bike patrol officers while parked near the Salty Toad Bar on Riverfront Plaza in Waukesha.

The officers ignored him until he tried to leave and one of the officers reportedly caught a whiff of 'burnt marijuana' wafting out of Nell's car.

The police asked Nell to perform some field sobriety tests, most of which he allegedly failed, and arrested him after a preliminary breath test revealed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.088, the complaint states.

Officers then searched Nell's car and found a joint containing tetrahydrocannabinol, the chief chemical component of marijuana.

According to court records, Nell is being held on a $1,000 cash bond. If released, he is ordered to maintain absolute sobriety and cannot operate any vehicle without a proper license.

His court hearing was scheduled for Thursday, June 19.