Germantown Man Charged in Falls With 6th OWI

A Germantown man is facing his sixth drunk driving charge after he was caught trying to start his car outside of a Menomonee Falls liquor store.

William A. Bathke II, 58, was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Monday with one count of sixth offense operating while intoxicated. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint:

At 8:59 p.m. Sunday, Menomonee Falls police were called to the after an employee of the store saw Bathke sitting inside his car trying to start it for 20 minutes. When police arrived, Bathke started the car, then began to back up until the officer told him to stop.

When asked if he was OK, Bathke told the officer “he was having computer problems and his computer wasn’t working with her computer, but he had finally fixed the problem.” He told the officer he had driven to the “bookstore in the center of town” around 4 p.m. and then to Liquor Lodge and was now going to drive home.

His breath smelled of alcohol but denied drinking. He failed a field sobriety test and had a blood alcohol level of 0.22.

Bathke was previously convicted of OWI in 1998, twice in 2000, 2001 and 2004. He’s currently being held in Waukesha County Jail on $5,000 bail.