OWI for Driver in Crash Injuring Sheriff's Deputy

The Mount Pleasant woman who allegedly injured a Racine County Sheriff's deputy Monday after failure to yield was formally charged Tuesday.

Denise Olson, 50, is facing a second OWI charge, felony hit-and-run causing injury, and a misdemeanor driving after revocation OWI related. If she is convicted, she could spend seven years, nine months in jail and pay up to $22,500 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint, the RCSD deputy was driving northbound on Ohio Street at 11:30 p.m. when Olson supposedly ran the light on 16th and Ohio in her SUV and hit the deputy's squad car. The impact of the crash caused the deputy to hit his head on the driver's window frame.

The deputy's report says that Olson continued going west on 16th Street so the deputy followed with full lights and sirens. Olson then turned left onto Perry Avenue, but was forced to stop when the hood of the truck flew up and blocked her view. Despite suffering from a headache and some dizzyness, the deputy ran to the SUV to be sure the driver was okay.

A Wisconsin State Trooper arrived on scene to assist and noticed the smell of intoxicants coming from inside the vehicle and that Olson's speech was slurred while she was speaking to the trooper. When asked how much she'd had to drink, Olson allegedly responded, "A few."

The RCSD deputy was treated for his head injury at the hospital and released the same night.

Running Olson's license revealed that she was driving on a revoked license because of a prior OWI conviction. The trooper had Olson perform field sobriety tests that she failed so the suspect was transported to Wheaton Franciscan for a blood draw to determine her blood alcohol level. 

Olson remains in the Racine County Jail on a $5,000 cash bond. She will have a preliminary hearing on Oct. 3 before Court Commissioner Alice A. Rudebusch.