OWI arrests made during 'Operation Unlucky Charm'

MILWAUKEE COUNTY -- As of 7 p.m. on St. Patrick's Day, Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputies had made a handful of OWI arrests as part of "Operation Unlucky Charm," a multi-jurisdiction effort to catch drunk drivers.

The first OWI arrest in Milwaukee County was made just before noon, and the second around 3 p.m. Saturday, March 17th.

Deputies working overtime blanketed the freeways, focusing especially on the I-94 East-West Corridor. "On a day like this, where you've got a beautiful mid-March day on a Saturday with a lot of things going on, it's just unfortunately a perfect recipe for disaster in a lot of ways," Sgt. Phil Wentzel said.

Before sunset on Saturday, many drivers had also received traffic citations.

On Water Street, Milwaukee police also stepped up their enforcement.  Their goal: to make their presence known. "Obviously, small problems can develop into larger problems.  Last year, we had a shooting on Water Street during St. Patrick's Day and we want to prevent that type of situation from occurring," Assistant Chief James Harpole said.