Wrong-way driver collides head-on with deputy squad car
By Hannah Hilyard
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MILWAUKEE (WISN) — A Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputy was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 43 near Center Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Prosecutors believe the wrong-way driver, identified as 23-year-old Zachariah Counsell, was intoxicated and entered the freeway at Highland Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Jan. 1. A criminal complaint said he traveled for upwards of two miles in the wrong direction, narrowly missing other cars.
Dramatic body and dash camera footage captured what happened next as a deputy positioned his squad car in the path of the wrong-way driver. That’s when the car slammed head-on into the squad car.
The deputy, seemingly unharmed, is seen quickly approaching the damaged Mercedes-Benz to check on the driver.
“Let me check on the driver,” the deputy said. “Are you OK?” to which Counsell replied, “I’m OK.”
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday, Counsell told investigators he was on his way to “a strip club on 3rd Street” and admitted he “had a lot” to drink, though the court documents did not specify the amount.
The body camera footage shows Counsell struggling to answer the deputies’ questions in the immediate aftermath of the crash. The complaint said he refused to do a field sobriety test.
Prosecutors revealed that this incident marks Counsell’s second offense as an alleged drunk driver. He is charged with OWI (2nd) and second-degree recklessly endangering safety.
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