Drunk Driver Arrested With 5-Year-Old in Car After Admitting Drinking Half a Bottle of Vodka, Beers

Milwaukee, WI – A 33-year-old Milwaukee man is in custody after admitting to Sheriff's Deputies to drinking half a bottle of vodka and two beers before taking the wheel with a five-year-old passenger.

Earl W. Matthews, age 33, of Milwaukee, was arrested for DUI-1st offense, and also charged with DUI-1st with Minor under the age of 16 in vehicle. If convicted, he faces up to six months in jail.

According to a Milwaukee County Sheriff's office release, a sheriff’s deputy observed a vehicle deviating lanes on I-43 southbound near Fond du Lac Avenue just after midnight today. The driver failed standardized field sobriety tests, and admitted to drinking half a bottle of vodka and two beers prior to being pulled over.

He tested a .25 on a PBT - more than three times the legal limit in Wisconsin. A five-year-old child was also in the vehicle, and was not secured in a child safety seat or with a seat belt.

A deputy brought the child to the MCSO Patrol substation and Child Protective Services was called. CPS allowed the mother to take the child home at 2:15 a.m.