A 50-year-old woman was arrested for drunken driving outside a gas station.
Teresa L. Gardner, Waupaca, is charged with a sixth OWI.
Shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, March 18, Waupaca Police Officer Dan Wasrud responded to a complaint from the Holiday station on Badger Street. A woman in a silver Saab appeared to be intoxicated.
When Wasrud arrived, he found the vehicle straddling the line between two parking stalls.
The officer positioned his squad car behind the Saab and approached the driver. He then noticed the Saab’s reverse lights illuminate as the vehicle started to roll slowly backward.
It stopped when Wasrud made contact with the driver, later identified as Gardner.
Wasrud reported noticing a strong odor of alcohol coming from the car and that Gardner’s speech was slurred.
The officer told Gardner to exit the car, then explained to her several times how to perform a field sobriety test.
According to the criminal complaint, Gardner said she did not want to perform the sobriety test and said she would rather take a breathalyzer test.
Wasrud said the field sobriety tests would give her an opportunity to demonstrate she was sober.
Gardner then reportedly began to question why the police were called and who called them. She said the person who called was lying.
When asked to do the one-leg stand test, Gardner asked if she could hold onto an officer, the complaint says.
She was later cited for refusing to take the preliminary breath test.
Gardner has five prior drunken driving convictions between March 1996 and April 2012.
She was released from custody on March 21 after posting a $3,500 cash bond.