Hunter
09/11/20
A Riverside man accused of OWI reportedly had a blood-alcohol level over three times the legal limit when arrested Thursday.
According to arrest reports, 38-year-old Joel Baumgartner was stopped on Highway 6 East at Sturgis Corner Drive a little after 1:30am after being clocked heading west at 50 miles an hour in a 35 mile an hour zone. A traffic stop was initiated, and Baumgartner allegedly smelled strongly of ingested alcohol, had thick slurred speech, and bloodshot watery eyes.
Baumgartner denied drinking and claimed to have just gotten off work six minutes earlier. He consented to field testing and showed measurable impairment. His PBT showed a blood-alcohol content of .298 percent, with a subsequent Datamaster reading of .275 percent.
Baumgartner was charged with his first OWI, a serious misdemeanor punishable by a jail sentence of up to one year if convicted.