Teen's Parking Ticket Quickly Escalates To Possible Jail Time

Sometimes it's best to just cut your losses and head home.

A 19-year-old Mequon man is facing charges after he allegedly stole pain killers that were for his friend's dog inside a Menomonee Falls home.

He was caught after drunkenly confronting a police officer about a parking ticket.

James M. Severson was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Monday with one count of possession of an illegally obtained prescription drug. If convicted, he faces up to six months in jail and $500 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

At 4:15 a.m. April 21, a Menomonee Falls police officer was performing parking enforcement duties in the N6400 block of Ash Drive. While on duty, the officer observed Severson coming toward him from a nearby lawn. Severson stumbled across a driveway and asked the officer if he was receiving a parking ticket. The officer noticed Severson smelled of alcohol and appeared highly intoxicated and then asked how old he was.

Severson said he was 19, so the officer asked him to come by his squad car. Severson agreed and told the officer he had been drinking at another unknown location in Menomonee Falls and was now hanging out at a friend’s house.

Eventually he told the officer he had been drinking in his car while it was parked in front of the house. He told the officer he had gotten a parking ticket earlier in the day. The officer then patted Severson down and discovered 22 Tramadol pills in his pocket.

Severson told the police officer he took the pills from his friend's house and that they were prescribed to the family dog by a veterinarian.

Severson will make his initial appearance in court Aug. 20.