Wrong-way driver incident on I-94/43 in Milwaukee; woman charged

MILWAUKEE – A 31-year-old Milwaukee woman is accused of driving about six miles in the wrong direction on the highway before a deputy sheriff ordered her to stop. The defendant is Candice Brown – and she is charged with second-degree reckless endangerment.

According to the criminal complaint, a deputy with the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office was dispatched around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, September 20, after receiving numerous calls about a wrong-way driver on the highway.

The deputy first spotted the Jeep in the northbound lanes of I-43 near Lincoln Avenue. The complaint states that the “Jeep was traveling close to the median and was traveling toward (the deputy's) patrol car.” The driver of the Jeep initially attempted to pass the patrol car, but the deputy was able to get the driver of the Jeep to stop. The complaint states that the driver of the Jeep was the defendant, Candice Brown.

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The complaint states that the deputy “detected a strong odor of intoxicants on the defendant's breath and noticed that her eyes were bloodshot and glassy. The defendant was slurring her speech and admitted to drinking that evening.” Brown initially told the deputy she had been drinking wine, but “later changed her statement to say she had come from a bar where she had a margarita and a shot of liquor,” the complaint states. Brown took a preliminary breath test that showed a BrAC of 0.153 – nearly twice the legal limit for driving. A search of the defendant's car found an open bottle of liquor.

According to the complaint, Department of Transportation cameras showed the defendant “entering the interstate via an exit ramp at Brown Street and traveling south in the northbound lanes for approximately 6 miles.” A “camera near National Avenue shows two separate near head-on collisions with other motorists,” the complaint states.

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Brown made his initial appearance in Milwaukee County Court on Wednesday, September 25. The court ordered bail set at $5,000.