Charges filed against alleged wrong-way driver
A criminal complaint filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court on Oct. 26 alleges that an intoxicated Hartland woman driving the wrong way on Highway 16 caused a head-on collision and injured another woman this summer.
Mary S. Maida, 42, was charged with intoxicated use of a vehicle causing great bodily harm in connection with the July 17 incident on Highway 16 just west of Highway 83. Maida could face up to 12 1/2 years in prison and a $25,000 fine if convicted of the felony charge.
According to the criminal complaint, a sheriff's deputy responded to a report of a head-on collision on Highway 16 at 11:20 p.m. that day. He found a white car on the side of the road with an unresponsive driver. Medical personnel were trying to extricate the driver from the vehicle. The woman had nonlife threatening injuries, but was taken to Froedtert Hospital via Flight for Life.
An SUV driven by Maida was sitting in the median, where Maida was being tended to by rescue personnel. She was taken to Aurora Summit Hospital with a laceration to her right knee. A preliminary investigation indicated that Maida had been driving east in a westbound lane on Highway 16 when she struck the victim's vehicle head-on.
The victim suffered facial lacerations, a fractured left cheek and eye socket, and complained of back pain.
A witness told investigators that he saw the vehicle traveling the wrong way on 16 and that the SUV tried to change lanes, but the victim vehicle changed lanes as well.
Speaking from the hospital, Maida allegedly told a sheriff's deputy that she thought she was traveling east on Highway 16. When asked how fast she was traveling, she allegedly said, "I was really drunk."
The deputy asked Maida to provide a statement, to which she responded, "I was really drunk, and I don't remember," the complaint alleged.
According to the complaint, she was coming from Splash in Oconomowoc, where she had been drinking martinis. Her speech was slurred, and her eyes were bloodshot and glassy, the complaint said. A preliminary breath test gave a reading of .079.
Maida will make an initial court appearance Nov. 6.
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