A 27-year-old Waukesha man is heading to prison after crashing his silver vehicle into the stone monument sign outside Waukesha City Hall in February, a wreck that also turned up a loaded handgun, extra ammunition and a knife the driver wasn't supposed to have. Colton J. Sanders was involved in the case.
Sanders was driving at high speed without his headlights on when he struck the sign near Delafield and Madison streets, according to FOX6 Milwaukee. Waukesha police had been called to the area shortly before midnight after a report of a vehicle being driven recklessly, and an officer arriving on scene found the silver vehicle crashed into the city hall stone sign, its front end heavily damaged and both airbags deployed, per the criminal complaint cited by The Freeman. Sanders initially told police he had taken the turn a little too fast, then blamed the crash on having a fast car.
Refusal, Then a 0.13% BAC
Sanders refused to submit to standardized field sobriety tests without an attorney present, the station's report notes. Officers observed that he had slow, slurred speech before he was arrested, and a subsequent breath test showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.13% — well above Wisconsin's legal limit of 0.08% for non-commercial drivers, as detailed by Civic Media. Sanders initially denied drinking at all, later saying he had not been drinking that much.
A search of Sanders and his vehicle turned up a loaded Glock 19 handgun clipped in a holster to his waistband, an extra ammunition magazine, and a large fixed-blade knife concealed near the driver's seat, the same account states. The case included a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. It also included possession of a firearm while intoxicated and carrying-a-concealed-knife charges. The weapons were seized by police.
Sentencing Terms and Conditions
The case was heard in Waukesha County Circuit Court.
The available report does not list additional supervision conditions.
The case echoes another recent Waukesha County sentencing: in a felony hit-and-run case, Nicholas Rubenzer received nine months in jail and probation after running a stop sign in downtown Waukesha and refusing chemical testing, showing a pattern in how local courts have handled reckless driving cases this year.
City Hall's Damaged Landmark
The sign Sanders hit sits outside a City Hall complex. The site has taken on renewed attention amid other Waukesha public safety news, including coverage of cop killer Ted Oswald's push for early release.
The monument sign is now the subject of a repair project.
A $110,000 Repair Bill
The available material does not provide a verified repair figure for the project. The sign was damaged when Sanders' vehicle struck it. The cited report does not detail an insurance claim or an evaluation of the concrete footing.
The repair process has taken time. The city has been working toward getting the sign repaired.
