On bond for 7th OWI, Wausau-area man arrested again after traffic stop

A Kronenwetter man out on bond for a charge of seventh-offense drunken driving is facing yet another OWI after a traffic stop in Wausau, court records show.

Lee P. Simon, 57, was arrested just before 3 p.m. June 26 after he was stopped for making an illegal turn on the corner of Stewart Avenue and First Avenue in Wausau. A Wausau Police officer pulled Simon over after he allegedly made a right turn onto Stewart Avenue while the traffic light was red. That intersection has a “no right turn on red” restriction.

Simon underwent field sobriety testing when the officer smelled alcohol on his breath, according to court records. A preliminary breath test registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.239 percent, more than 10 times his legal limit for driving. Simon has a 0.02 percent restriction due to his six prior convictions.

On June 27, prosecutors charged Simon with seventh-offense drunken driving. But that could change, because Simon was already facing a seventh OWI stemming from a May 2023 arrest in which he had a BAC of 0.20 percent.

In the 2023 case, which has not yet concluded, police stopped Simon on Old Hwy. 51 in Kronenwetter after an officer clocked his speed at 62 mp in a 45 mph zone. He was pulled over for the alleged speeding violation and underwent field sobriety testing. Police say Simon was swaying side to side while attempting the test and eventually declined to complete any additional measures, but did agree to a breath analysis.

After Simon was arrested in 2023, he requested an officer retrieve his wallet from the vehicle. That led police to discover a half-consumed bottle of vodka under the seat and what appeared to be marijuana and smoking paraphernalia inside, according to the incident report.

Simon was free after posting a $4,000 cash bond, with a status conference set for July 8. But since the new charges were filed, Simon’s cash bond has increased to $15,000, an amount that remains unpaid as of Monday. Simon remains behind bars with a review hearing set for July 3.

Court records show Simon’s six prior OWI convictions ranged from his first in 1994 to his most recent in 2006.