MADISON, Wis. — A suspected drunken driver heading the wrong way passed within feet of Vice President Kamala Harris' motorcade following a campaign stop this week in Wisconsin.
Harris had just wrapped up a rally in the Milwaukee suburb of Brookfield on Monday evening when her motorcade passed a car heading the wrong way on Interstate 94 in Milwaukee. Sheriff's deputies trailing the motorcade stopped the vehicle and took the driver, a 55-year-old Milwaukee man, into custody after he performed poorly on field sobriety tests and deputies found an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, Milwaukee County Sheriff's spokesperson James Burnett told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The man allegedly told deputies that he was headed home after a night out and had no idea that he was driving the wrong way on the freeway, Burnett said.
According to an arrest report obtained by WISN-TV, the man told deputies that he didn't remember entering the freeway and didn't have any intention of hurting Harris or anyone connected with her campaign. The AP has requested a copy of the report from the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office was still waiting for the man's blood alcohol test results from the state crime lab on Wednesday morning, Burnett said. The legal limit to drive in Wisconsin is 0.08%. The sheriff's office has recommended prosecutors charge the man with second-degree reckless endangerment and first-offense operating while intoxicated, Burnett said.
The man used an off-ramp to get onto the interstate, Burnett said. It's unclear which interstate access points — if any — were blocked to traffic because of the motorcade, and which law enforcement agency was responsible for closing entrances and exits.
Secret Service Special Agent Joseph Routh confirmed in an email to the AP that the interstate was closed and the man entered from an off-ramp. No vehicles in the motorcade made contact with his car and the motorcade continued to Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport without further incident. He said the agency could not disclose details about its motorcade operations and safety procedures.
Burnett and Routh didn’t immediately respond to follow-up messages inquiring about how fast the suspected drunken driver and the motorcade were going when they passed each other.
The incident was the second involving a Harris campaign motorcade in Milwaukee in recent weeks. Press vans following her running mate Tim Walz's motorcade were rear-ended while traveling through the city in September.
Timothy White, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign in Wisconsin, referred questions to the Secret Service.
