OWI with Baby on Board Leads to Jail, Police Say

A Sturtevant man who was taken into custody Monday night for suspected drunk driving with his one-week-old baby in the car also threw a temper tantrum and ended up with stitches.

Nicholas Hartlein, 28, remains in the Kenosha County Jail and faces first offense OWI charges with a child under the age of 16 in the car as well as penalties from violating his probation from a drug conviction in Feb. 2012.

According to a written release from the Wisconsin State Patrol, troopers patroling the frontage road just north of Highway 158 in Kenosha County stopped to help a vehicle that was pulled over. When the trooper approached the car, they could smell intoxicants coming from Hartlein, who was behind the wheel.

Officers administered field sobriety tests they say Hartlein failed, so they took him into custody.

In the back of the squad car, troopers say, Hartlein banged his head, resulting in cuts to his forehead, one of which needed three stitches to close. He also broke his foot as a result of kicking at the door of the car.

Before being booked into the Kenosha County Jail, Hartlein was transported to St. Catherine's Hospital for treatment and a legal blood draw, the results of which were not available when this story posted.

The baby was turned over to the child's mother who was also in the car but had not been drinking.

Court records do not yet indicate when Hartlein will next appear in court.