A Wisconsin man who drove in the wrong direction toward the vice presidential motorcade in October was able to avoid jail time and only received probation as a punishment.
Wayne Wacker pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and disorderly conduct after he was arrested for driving onto Interstate 94 after leaving a bar. The motorcade for former Vice President Kamala Harris was driving in the normal direction at the time, which was just weeks before Election Day.
The motorcade was traveling down the interstate highway after Harris had left a campaign event in Brookfield.
The 55-year-old said he left a bar in Walker’s Point in Milwaukee and somehow ended up driving the wrong way, but he claimed he didn’t know Harris was visiting the city at the time.
The man was sentenced to a year in prison, but the sentence was stayed so he would be allowed to avoid prison if he successfully completed probation and other court requirements.
He was also fined $500.
Wacker had initially been charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, a felony that could have put him behind bars for 10 years and earned him a fine of $25,000.
The motorcade was traveling down the interstate highway after Harris had left a campaign event in Brookfield.
Wacker was pulled over by a Milwaukee County sheriff’s deputy after his car narrowly missed the motorcade.
Prosecutors said he had been driving at “close to highway speeds.” Wacker was a Milwaukee Public Schools teacher and appears to be still employed there, according to his LinkedIn profile.
His attorney had unsuccessfully argued in court that the charge should have been dropped because Wacker was too drunk to recognize that he was putting others at risk, a requirement of the charge.
Video of the man driving the wrong way can be viewed on a news report from WISN-TV on YouTube.
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