Rollover Crash Leads To 6th Offense OWI Charges

BARRON COUNTY -- Criminal charges of Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) 6th offense have been filed against a man following a rollover crash that occurred on November 25, 2019, in the Town of Turtle Lake.

The Turtle Lake Police Department and the Barron County Sheriff’s Department responded to a rollover crash that occurred on November 25, 2019, at 11th Avenue and 3 ½ Street in the Town of Turtle Lake in Barron County, WI.

Milo Merrill, of Rice Lake, WI, was on scene and identified himself as the driver of the truck that had been involved in the crash. Merrill allegedly went on to tell Law Enforcement that he had been driving the vehicle after drinking and that he was intoxicated; going on to state that he did not wish to do any field sobriety tests and that Officers should take him to jail and give him a breathalyzer, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Barron County Circuit Court. Merrill told Officers that he swerved to miss a deer, which led to the crash.

Officers on scene noticed an odor of intoxicants coming from Merrill and administered a preliminary breath test, the results of which were .108. Merrill was transported to the Barron Hospital where a sample of his blood was obtained for testing. Results of that testing were not included with the criminal complaint at the time of this post.

The criminal complaint goes on to state that Merrill was convicted of OWI on September 7, 2001; January 16, 2007; June 3, 2010; June 25, 2010; and January 6, 2010.

Charges of Class G Felony OWI 6th Offense were filed against Merrill on November 27, 2019. Merrill made an initial appearance on his charges and the Court placed him on a $500 cash bail bond. Conditions of Merrill’s bail bond require him to comply with daily breath tests at the Rice Lake Police Department.

Merrill is scheduled to appear again in December 2019 for a preliminary examination hearing regarding his charges.

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Pursuant to the direction of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as found in Supreme Court Rule 20:3.6, Trial Publicly, you are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Last Update: Dec 04, 2019 11:01 am CST