Muskego substitute teacher accused, driving drunk to school

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Christopher Rias

MUSKEGO, Wis. - Waukesha County prosecutors accuse a substitute teacher of driving drunk to work at an elementary school last month. It's not the first time – or even the second time – he's been charged with driving drunk just this year.

In Court:

Court records show 30-year-old Christopher Rias is charged with operating while intoxicated and misdemeanor bail jumping. If convicted, it would be his fourth OWI offense.

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Rias posted $10,000 cash bond and was released from custody on Thursday. He's due back in court on Nov. 13.

Dig deeper:

Court filings state Rias was first convicted of OWI in 2019, and records show he currently has open cases for OWI in Kenosha County and Milwaukee County from earlier this year.

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OWI arrest

The backstory:

Muskego police were called to Bay Lane Elementary School about a "possibly intoxicated substitute teacher," according to a criminal complaint. That call came in at around 11:10 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 30.

Court filings said Rias was at the school as a substitute physical education teacher that day. A school resource officer noted Rias had "extremely slurred" speech, "bloodshot red" eyes and smelled of intoxicants.

The complaint said Rias told the school resource officer he took melatonin the night before and nothing else. But when pressed about whether he consumed any alcohol the night before, he said something to the effect of: "Well no not a lot."

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Prosecutors said the school resource officer conducted a preliminary breath test, which the complaint said resulted in a 0.36 BAC – more than four times the legal limit to drive in Wisconsin. Rias then said something along the lines of: "It was still in my system, and I did not know." 

Rias said he was given a ride to the school that day and was told someone would come pick him up, according to court filings. Police said he "became visibly concerned" while waiting and said he shouldn't have any active warrants.

However, the complaint states investigators determined he did have an active arrest warrant for failure to appear in court for an open OWI case in Milwaukee County. He was then placed under arrest.

Surveillance video from Muskego school shows Christopher Rias getting out of car

Police bodycam of officers talking with Christopher Rias outside Muskego school

Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the school, which court filings said showed Rias driving his vehicle and arriving in the parking lot north of the school around 8:20 a.m. The footage also showed his "balance is poor as he almost falls two times," and he failed to walk in a straight line as he entered the school.

Rias later told police he stopped drinking around 1:30 a.m. that day, per the complaint, and had not consumed any alcohol since he arrived at school. 

Court filings said Rias failed field sobriety tests. He was later taken to a hospital for an evidentiary blood sample, which was drawn just before 4 p.m. that day.