Crime & Safety
Drunk and Wrong Way Driver on I-43 Charged
Two men spotted Christie Jo Ryker sleeping in her car on the expressway near Muskego, but she took off while one tried to explain she was facing the wrong way.
A 26-year-old Nebraska woman is facing charges after she was caught allegedly driving the wrong way drunk on I-43 on Saturday.
Christie Jo Ryker, of Bellevue, Neb., was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Wednesday with one count of second-degree reckless endangerment of safety. If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison and $25,000 in fines.
According to the criminal complaint:
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At 4:46 a.m. Saturday, two employees with Mega Rentals were inside the construction zone on I-43 between Calhoun Road and Martin Road when they spotted Ryker’s car parked facing eastbound in the westbound lanes of the expressway. Ryker appeared to be asleep and when one of the men approached her and tried to open her door, she woke up.
The man tried to tell her she was facing the wrong way, but while he was talking, Ryker started the car and drove off the wrong way. The men tried to catch her by heading eastbound in the eastbound lanes, but soon lost sight of her.
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While returning to the construction site, the men again found Ryker stopped facing the wrong way and they again tried to speak to her, but she took off again, so they called police. A Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputy pulled her over just west of 116th Street in Greenfield.
The deputy told her she was driving the wrong way to which Ryker replied her “GPS must have messed up.” She smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech, then told the deputy she had one mixed drink at a bar on Water Street.
She failed field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest. She’s currently being held in Milwaukee County Jail on $2,500 bond.
