Man accused of heroin use, causing crash arrested twice

A 24-year-old Elm Grove man who said he uses heroin has been causing problems over the last week or so, Tosa police say.

According to the Wauwatosa police report:

Wauwatosa's drug-sniffing dog was called to Elm Grove at 2:24 p.m. Thursday to check out a backpack that belonged to an intoxicated man in the roadway at Lilly and Wrayburn roads. The dog found heroin and drug paraphernalia, so the man was referred to the Waukesha County District Attorney's Office for possible drug possession and paraphernalia possession charges.

Wauwatosa officers said they had arrested the same man for driving under the influence of drugs less than a week earlier.

In that incident he had struck a vehicle at a red light at 68th Street and Wauwatosa Avenue at 4:14 p.m. Sept. 24; that vehicle plowed into a third. The two other drivers and a passenger all suffered neck pain.

He had told police that he had just picked up his car from the shop where he had had his brake pads replaced, and that the pads must "not be properly broken in yet." The car's air bags had deployed and the front end was severely damaged.

His blood-alcohol level was 0.06, below the legal limit for drunken driving. However, police believed he was under the influence of drugs. He had a tourniquet in his pocket, and syringes and tools to cook heroin in the car.

He said he uses heroin but had last shot up the prior day. A blood test and substance in the syringe were sent to the state crime lab for analysis.

This may turn out to be his second driving under the influence arrest - a Sept. 12 arrest is working its way through the court system.