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Man Charged with 7th OWI Save Email Print
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A man has been charged with his 7th OWI after getting pulled over in downtown Madison.

Troy Peterson was stopped by police just before 11:00 Tuesday night in the 400 block of Park Street.

Peterson was asked to get out of his car so police could perform field sobriety tests.

But, he ran from the scene.

After a short chase he was arrested.

Preliminary tests show his blood alcohol level was more than 2 times over the legal limit.
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Posted by: JR Location: Portage on Aug 16, 2007 at 02:02 PM
The court & legal system is a joke. It has become a system of who you are and who represents you and not the laws anyway. With the way the laws are written, there isn't a way of stopping a drunk driver from driving completely because if they want to, they'll drive anyway. We need better written laws and better people in office to write them. We also need a judicial system that actually does the right thing in every legal system instead of the who's who game. Alcoholism is a disease and that needs to be treated as something very serious. I think more involvement from these alcohol programs into the courts sentences should be implemented as something that if not followed through with should be the serious crime too. Let's nip the problem in the butt. As a part of a family that has dealt with alcoholism in the past, the path to correcting the problem should be the key focus for sure.
Posted by: Michele Location: Madison on Aug 16, 2007 at 01:56 PM
The justice system needs work but honestly ... What do you wnt them to do? Lock these people up for the rest of their lives? I mean, there's nothing stopping them from driving someone's car ... You can tell them that they can't own one or drive one ... but people drive illegally all the time ... It would be nice if someone had a better idea to fix this situation.
Posted by: N/A on Aug 16, 2007 at 12:28 PM
This man is obviously an alcoholic. Laws, fines, jail, etc do not cure alcoholism. Sometimes they do motivate an alchoholic to seek a cure for their disease, but many do not since it is an intense addiction. I used to think drunk drivers were just people out partying and then driving. I now know because of a family member who is an alcoholic that everyday our roads are filled with alcoholics out during the day and night driving drunk. They think different than non addicted people. Alcoholics think they can drive when drunk, while normal people know they should not be driving. This is how the disease affects the mind of the alcoholic. I agree after so many offenses they need to be in jail, however, many come back out only to begin drinking again. Unless you know how awful a disease alcoholism is, its hard to understand it.
Posted by: Nicole on Aug 16, 2007 at 10:18 AM
OK everybody is saying to lock him up and throw away the key but then you will be whinning about the cost of keeping these guys in jail in your taxes. We need to put breathalizers in these guys vehicles, put a alchol detection system on them, we need them to pay huge fines, and be on house a rest with monitoring. Or as I have said before the US needs to buy a big island someplace, put all the criminals on this island drop them rice once a week and let them have at it. For kicks give them some weapons so it doesn't get to over populated. Then it wont cost us but the cost of the island and some rice.
Posted by: S Location: CP on Aug 16, 2007 at 10:04 AM
Of course it is not illegal to sell a car to someone without a license. Did she drive away in the car? A know a lot of people that buy cars for other people or are just their to co-sign for someone. Its quite common. I also think that Wisconsin needs to stop making deals with people and start punishing them to the fullest extent. Is the court going to get tough on people and quit dismissing charges. Just look at his record and you'll understand....what good does it do to have the law, but do nothing with it.
Posted by: Sara Location: Madison on Aug 16, 2007 at 09:30 AM
Every time I hear about something like this I'm left wondering how it's STILL possible for someone who obviously has a pattern of drunk driving to have access to a car, much less drive that car around. As soon as a person gets their first offense, there should be a way to "tag" their information so that if they try to buy a car they won't be able to (I realize that someone could still buy the car for the person). Where I'm originally from there was a campaign around the holidays where if a person got stopped for DUI they were issued a hot pink license plate for their car (this was a long time ago, so I can't remember how long the person was required to have the plate), and apparently that worked out quite well- maybe WI should try that out. At any rate, it's sad and sickening that someone can get as many as 7 (or more) DUIs and still not really have anything that bad happen to them and the state should really look at better ways to solve this.
Posted by: j on Aug 16, 2007 at 08:45 AM
I dont believe in harsher for the first, but anything after i totally agree!
Posted by: Anonymous on Aug 16, 2007 at 07:55 AM
Unfortunately people drive drunk all the time and do not get caught. I'm sure some of the people looking down on this guy have been oer the legal limit, It only takes 2 beers and you could get nabbed with an owi. Plus acoholisim is a disease that attacks the brain and people make poor decisions. What the man needs is rehab
Posted by: Hans Location: Madison on Aug 16, 2007 at 06:08 AM
Ok..people like this are gonna drive no matter what the punishment. Lock him up for a year or two...and as soon as he gets out; whats he gonna do?..get drunk!..and drive! very few jailed offenders get successful treatment. it doesn't matter if he has a car or not ..they find a way!.putting a breath sensor in the car helps a bit..but they have way's around that too!..the only way he's gonna stop;is when he hits bottom...or dies of cirrosis.
Posted by: Mike Location: Madison on Aug 15, 2007 at 10:18 PM
Amen Anne! I agree totally! One OWI, or DUI, or even acting like an idiot due to alcohol (like Halloween/ football games/ house parties) and the first ticket is $10,000! I also agree we should not allow these people to own vehicles! We don't allow felons to own handguns, but we let them buy a 2,000 pound vehicle to go kill someone with? (Think Samantha Young). And repeat offenders, like Mr. Dvorak, who appeared on this station's news for his 13th OWI in Wisconsin, and has some in Illinois too... It isn't the judges or prosecutors though... it is the lawmakers that tie the judge's hands by passing weak laws to punish these criminals! Put some teeth into the laws, and let the judges do their jobs and protect society from these threats to all of us!
Posted by: Anonymous on Aug 15, 2007 at 10:12 PM
Why did he get 7 chances? Sheesh...WI's three strikes law doesn't apply to OWI obviously.... this is insanity.
Posted by: Anne Location: Madison on Aug 15, 2007 at 06:44 PM
....And we wonder why Wisconsin is one of the most notorious states when it comes to drunks drivers....harsher penalties on the 1st DUI, not 2nd or 3rd.
Posted by: MARY Location: MADISON on Aug 15, 2007 at 04:09 PM
People need to stop asking the stupid question of HOW ARE THEY STILL DRIVING? For those of you that do not know it you do not need a Drivers License to technically drive a car. Well what we would need to do is stop selling vehicles to these people. I was at Zimbrick the other day and a woman was in there that did not have a Drivers License and she walked out of there with a car. If we could stop the dealorships from selling to these people, but there are no laws against selling cars to people who don't have a license.
Posted by: Lori Location: Madison on Aug 15, 2007 at 01:51 PM
It's the judges and the prosecutors. THe police pick them up and the rest let them go. How many people lately have been hurt or killed by these people. Come on court system! You lock people away for less!
Posted by: anonymous Location: sauk county on Aug 15, 2007 at 01:44 PM
This guy is a danger to society. I can't understand why he in not locked up somewhere. I agree with the rest of you, it obviously takes him killing someone before he's locked up.
Posted by: Anonymous on Aug 15, 2007 at 12:46 PM
No Kidding Annonymous! Really now, what will it take for something to change?? How was he driving anyhow? 7 OWI's?????? WOW..
Posted by: DAve Location: Madison on Aug 15, 2007 at 12:37 PM
There is something wrong with our system.
Posted by: TAMMY Location: BEAVER DAM on Aug 15, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Shouldn't this guy have been in jail after the 2nd or 3rd time? I mean, give me a break - what is the court system coming to?
Posted by: Anonymous Location: Madison on Aug 15, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Lock him up and throw away the key! Getting one OWI is MORE than enough to learn your lesson. Obviously this guy is a serious liability and will continue to drive after he gets released. I don't even want to THINK about the number of times he has driven drunk and didn't get caught. Next time he could kill someone! Is that what it will take for the justice system to take these offenses seriously? How many chances does someone deserve?
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