Mercedes vs. Neon Crash Leads to Fourth OWI in Two Years

When a repeat drunken driver crashed his Mercedes into a Dodge Neon, he ended up with his fourth drunken driving charge in less than two years.

The charges, refiled this week in Racine County Circuit Court, stem from a May 25, 2012 incident, where a Mercedes struck a Dodge Neon near the intersection of Highway C and Newman Road. According to court records, the driver of the Neon told officers she saw the driver of the Mercedes go behind the nearby Piggly Wiggly.

Police tracked the man into the evergreen trees along the western edge of the property, the criminal complaint states, and reported they had to threaten the man with a Taser to get him to stop trying to climb under a fence. Officers went into the trees and dragged him out.

The man, Eric S. Perkins Sr, 36, of Kenosha, is charged with his fourth drunken driving offense in five years, hit and run of an attended vehicle, resisting an officer, obstructing an officer, driving with a revoked license-OWI related, four counts of felony bail jumping and 18 counts of misdemeanor bail jumping. He faces prison and substantial fines if convicted.

He has prior drunken driving convictions from 2011 and 2012.

As officers put Perkins into handcuffs, the criminal complaint states, he swore at officers instead of answering questions about his name, age and whether anyone else had been in the car with him at the time of the crash.

Officers reported Perkins was bloody from the accident and requested to go to the hospital. Once there, however, the complaint states, he feigned unconsciousness. A blood sample was taken for testing. The results of that have been returned, showing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.240, three times the legal limit.