DE SOTO, Wis. – According to the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office a driving complaint last weekend led to the arrest and incarceration of a 45-year-old man from Boradhead, Wis after he refused a blood test. Sheriff Roy Torgerson reports that on Saturday April 27, at 10:49 a.m., the Sheriff’s Office 911 Dispatch Center was notified of an erratic driver on State Highway 35, near Genoa, Wis. The concerned motorist reported that a southbound vehicle was driving erratically and crossing the center line.
A vehicle matching the description in the complaint was located and stopped just north of De Soto Wis., in the town of Wheatland. The operator of the vehicle was identified as Matthew Benjamin Riese, 45, of Broadhead, Wis. Riese was arrested for Operating a Motor Vehicle While Intoxicated Fifth Offense.
Riese was on active probation supervision through the Wisconsin Department of Corrections following a March 2024 felony conviction in Green County. One of his rules of supervision was to maintain absolute sobriety.
Riese refused to submit to a chemical test of his blood and the Sheriff’s Office sought a search warrant through Vernon County Circuit Court. The court authorized the warrant to obtain a blood sample and the warrant was subsequently executed. Under Wisconsin’s Implied Consent Law, and because of the refusal, a notice of intent to revoke Riese’s driving privileges was submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the Vernon County Clerk of Circuit Court. The Viroqua Police Department assisted the Sheriff’s Office with the execution of the search warrant.
According to the Sheriff’s Office on Monday, April 29, at 1:00 p.m, Matthew Riese appeared in Vernon County Circuit Court for a Bail Hearing and a $500 cash bond was ordered. Riese is due back in court on May 28, at 1:00 p.m. Formal charges will be sought through Vernon County District Attorney Angela Palmer-Fisher. At the time of this news release on Tuesday night, Riese was being held in the Vernon County Detention Center for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
Sheriff Torgerson stated in the report he would like to thank alert motorists for reporting potentially impaired or otherwise dangerous drivers. Torgerson said thankfully this vehicle was located before any crash occurred.
The incident remains under investigation by the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.
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