14 DAY TRIAL // Tanya Weyker from Wisconsin suffered serious injuries last year, when Milwaukee County Sheriff's Deputy Joseph Quiles smashed into her car after running a stop sign, but it was she who was arrested and accused of drunk driving.
More than a year after the incident, the 25-year-old woman is still struggling to clear things up and get her medical bills paid following the serious car accident in which she suffered a broken neck.
According to Yahoo News, Tanya’s problems started on Febraury 20, 2013, when her Camry was violently hit by Milwaukee County Deputy Sheriff Joseph Quiles’ patrol car. The deputy was then reportedly working the night shift at General Mitchell International Airport. He pulled out onto Howell Avenue to make his rounds when he T-boned Mrs. Weyker's car and sent it spinning into a tree.
Despite the fact that Mr. Quiles was the driver who had caused the collision, the deputy asked Mrs. Weyker to blow into a breathalyzer. She couldn't do it due to her injuries, and Quiles decided to charge her with OWI (operating while intoxicated).
Those charges hung over her head for nearly a year, although subsequent blood tests showed that she had no alcohol or drugs in her system.
“One deputy asked if I had anything to drink that night and I told him how I just had a few sips of a friend’s drink,” Tanya recalls.
In the accident report, the deputy noted that the victim had a light odor of alcohol on her breath and that her eyes looked red and glassy. But Weyker explained to him that her eyes were red because she was crying.
The woman, whose criminal history is flawless, broke her neck in four places in the collision. “It was a miracle I wasn't paralyzed,” she says.
In the original report, deputy Quiles claimed he came to a full stop right before the collision and said he didn't see Weyker’s headlights, although her car’s headlights were automatic. He only admitted he was at fault ten months after the accident and was suspended for nine days, but he was never held accountable for filing a false accident report.
“I think he was trying to protect himself and his department, to be honest. A lot of people are too afraid to stick up for themselves against someone in such high power,” the victim added.
However, even though Weyker’s record has been cleared, she is still waiting for the county to pay for her medical bills, which could amount to $1million (€702,000), according to her attorney, who also mentioned that, unfortunately, state law puts a cap of $250,000 (€180,000) on claims against government agencies.