Man Who Bumps Police Car Arrested for Alleged Heroin Possession

A 29-year-old Wales man found out inattentive driving in Greenfield is a bad idea.

It gets worse when you rear-end a Greenfield Police officer at a stop light, and even worse when the officer finds what he believes to be heroin in the car with you. 

William Lenhardt faces felony charges for possession of heroin after he bumped the marked squad car at the corner of South 27th Street and Layton Avenue around 7 p.m. Friday, April 6.

He was charged with felony possession of narcotics Tuesday and has a preliminary hearing set for April 20.

According to the report, after bumping the officer’s car, Lenhardt told the officer he had taken his eyes off the road while attempting to access his cell phone. While talking with the officer, Lenhardt’s speech was slow and his eyes began to the close, so much so that the officer thought he was going to fall asleep.

The suspect told the officer he was taking prescription suboxone, which was confirmed by a local pharmacy where the suspect fills his prescriptions.

The officer, however, discovered much more than just the prescription drugs. He allegedly found a syringe in the Lenhardt’s pants pocket. Lenhardt said it belonged to his girlfriend who had used it to inject heroin earlier in the day and that he took the syringe because he did not approve of her drug use.

The officer also found a backpack that contained several hypodermic needles, a metal cap used for cooking illegal drugs, and other paraphernalia. More items were found throughout the car, as was 0.26 grams of heroin folded into tinfoil.

Back at the police station, Lenhardt said all of the items belonged to his girlfriend and admitted to driving her to purchase heroin earlier that day. They even stopped at McDonald’s so she could inject it, according to the report.

Lenhardt eventually told police the heroin was his and that he placed it there during another traffic stop about a month earlier.

Turns out Lenhardt was out on bail for another possession of heroin offense that occurred in Waukesha County in 2011, so he was also booked for felony bail jumping. And for good measure, he was issued a municipal traffic citation for following too close.

No damage to either car was reported.