WISCONSIN DELLS – Crivitz Middle/High School Principal Jeff Baumann allegedly exhibited multiple signs of intoxication when Wisconsin Dells police officers tested him after pulling over the Ford F-150 truck he was driving without lights, according to a police report.
Arlin Grandaw, husband of Crivitz School Board President Amy Grandaw and a boys basketball coach and Village Board member, allegedly sat in the passenger seat of the F-150 Baumann was driving on Oct. 2 when a police officer and sergeant pulled over the vehicle, police said.
Baumann and Arlin Grandaw had traveled to the Wisconsin Dells for a coaching conference, sources said.
A citation for no lights led to Baumann’s arrest and a fourth accusation of operating with a Prohibited Alcohol Concentration, or PAC, with Baumann’s first three PAC charges ending in convictions, according to official documents.
After three convictions, the prohibited concentration of alcohol drops to 0.02% from 0.08% and the offense becomes a felony charge, according to Wisconsin statute. Baumann is presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.
In Wisconsin, the penalty for prohibited alcohol concentration can be up to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $50,000. Baumann didn’t respond to a reporter’s request for comment by the deadline for this story. Amy Grandaw didn’t respond to a reporter’s email by deadline.
No additional information was provided in the police report about why Arlin Grandaw was asked to present his driver’s license to the police.
In Crivitz, Baumann was placed on an indefinite leave from the school district, according to an Oct. 6 letter Superintendent Kelly Robinson sent to school families and staff without mentioning his arrest. The school board scheduled a special meeting to discuss the middle/high school principal’s status Oct. 27, after the Peshtigo Times’ deadline for this story.
On Oct. 6, a reporter for the Peshtigo Times filed a Freedom of Information Act request for public records related to Baumann’s arrest in Wisconsin Dells and received the police report on Oct. 22.
Wisconsin Dells Police Officer Nick Smith, who is a certified Drug Recognition Expert and Law Enforcement Phlebotomist qualified to perform blood draws, pulled over the 2018 light gray Ford F-150 truck Baumann was driving at about 10:10 p.m. Oct. 2.
Smith was driving a marked Wisconsin Dells Police Department Ford Explorer, equipped with an operating audio and video recorder. He was traveling on Highway 13 near Pirate’s Cove when he observed the Ford F-150 traveling westbound on Highway 13 without its lights on.
Smith, equipped with a body-worn camera that was activated, pulled a U-turn and pursued the F-150 with emergency lights and siren on. The F-150 pulled into a Taco Bell parking lot and parked sideways in a parking stall, the police report said. Baumann was observed allegedly having some difficulty with his cellphone and flashlight, the police report said.
When Smith asked for Baumann’s driver’s license and inquired where he was traveling from, Smith noticed “a strong odor of intoxicants emitting from his breath. His eyes were bloodshot and watery.”
Baumann said he had been at a local tavern where he had four beers, according to the police report. When Smith asked Baumann to rate his intoxication level, Baumann ranked it at two or three on a scale of zero to 10, Smith said. In response to another question, Baumann allegedly said a four or five on the scale would be unacceptable for driving, the police report said.
After asking Baumann to step out of the vehicle, Smith also asked him if he would have driven the vehicle in a similar condition if kids were traveling in it, and Baumann allegedly replied, “I don’t know,” the police report said. Smith informed Baumann other vehicles transporting kids were traveling on the roadway.
Sergeant Scott Parkhurst, who also was involved in the on-the-scene investigation, asked for Arlin Grandaw’s driver’s license, according to the police report. He took note of Baumann’s three prior convictions for driving while intoxicated, which meant any blood alcohol concentration above 0.02% would be prohibited. He conducted a Standardized Field Sobriety Test where Baumann was asked to follow Parkhurst’s index finger as the police officer put his index finger in front of Baumann’s eyes and moved it. Out of a possible impairment score of six clues (or reasons), Baumann received a score of two for “lack of smooth pursuit in both eyes” and “no VGN (Gaze Nystagmus) was present,” the police report said.
Baumann also was given a slow-motion “walk and turn” test, used to verify the driver’s ability to listen, watch and recall information while performing a physical activity in slow motion, the police report said. Out of eight impairment clues, Baumann received a score of four clues, for allegedly missing the heel-to-toe test by more than half an inch, stepping off the line, failing to perform a turn as instructed and lifting his arms greater than six inches for balance in the test of balance.
When Baumann was asked to count backwards from 69, he allegedly started counting at 50 and counted down to 45, the police report said.
During a preliminary breath test and related questions, Baumann’s breath allegedly registered at a 0.077% breath alcohol concentration, according to the police report. Baumann allegedly told the officer he didn’t know if his alcohol concentration was above or below 0.08%.
After the tests showed a number of clues to believe he had a prohibited alcohol concentration, Baumann was arrested at 10:24 p.m. About 10 minutes later, after the police officer read information about a blood-draw test, Baumann allegedly consented to the test and was transported to the Wisconsin Dells Police Department, the police report said. The blood draw was taken at about 14 minutes after midnight, with two tubes of whole blood collected and sealed to be sent to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. At 11:15 p.m., Baumann was booked into the Sauk County Jail. He was released Oct. 3 on a signature bond of $1,500.
Smith noted Baumann treated him with respect during the various interactions.
Baumann is scheduled to appear in Wisconsin Dells Municipal Court at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 3 on the no-lights citation, which could put three points on his driver’s license if found guilty. The PAC (fourth) offense is being heard separately in Sauk County Circuit Court.
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