A Manawa couple have been charged with criminal child neglect and other drug- and alcohol-related offenses after they crashed their car into a snowbank.
Shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18, Manawa Police Officer Paul Benzschawel and Waupaca County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Studzinski were called out to a crash on the corner of Depot and Robert streets, where they found a green minivan stuck at least 30 feet off the road.
A woman, identified as 28-year-old Nadine A. Lehman, said she had been driving to the gas station when she slid into the snowbank. Benzschawel suspected she had been drinking and arrested her for a possible third drunken driving offense. When he asked her about her four children, Nadine reportedly said they were with her mother.
According to the criminal complaint, she told police that she had taken Lorazepam, which can cause side effects of drowsiness and dizziness when combined with alcohol, and said her husband, Joshua L. Lehman, 33, had given it her.
Studzinski took Joshua Lehman into custody because he appeared to be intoxicated and was on a bond with the condition of absolute sobriety. Joshua Lehman had been charged with burglary, operating a firearm while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and resisting an officer in Outagamie County and released on Dec. 13, 2010, after posting a $4,000 cash bail.
Joshua Lehman also did not know where his children were at that time, police reported.
“In speaking with both Nadine and Joshua Lehman, it was obvious that they were both so impaired that they had no idea where their children were or what was happening,” according to the criminal complaint.
Police believe they had been ice fishing at the Mill Pond for several hours prior to the crash. Police went to the Lehman’s home where they found the four children, ages 3 to 9, without adult supervision.
Joshua Lehman was charged with delivery of prescription drugs, felony bail jumping and child neglect.
Nadine Lehman was charged with a third OWI and child neglect.