TOWN OF SALEM – An Eleva man who decided to pull over and take a nap on his way to the casino won a trip to Pierce County Jail rather than a jackpot.

Shawn M. Sosinsky, 56, was ordered to pay $2,500 cash bond Jan. 20 in Pierce County Circuit Court on felony OWI-10^th and felony threat to cause bodily harm to certain individuals involved with the court or legal system. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and/or fines up to $15,000.

According to the complaint:

At 11:13 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 18, deputies were dispatched to a suspicious vehicle complaint at Highway 10 and 390^th Avenue in the town of Salem. The complainant said a black Chevy truck had parked in the middle of the road at about 10 p.m. He didn’t think anything of it at first, because people often stop on the road there to make phone calls, he said. When it was still there an hour later, he went to the truck and found a man, later identified as Sosinsky, sleeping in the driver’s seat.

When police arrived, they found the truck parked perpendicular to and blocking the travel lane on 390^th Avenue. They found Sosinsky asleep in the driver’s seat on his side. They knocked on the window to wake him up, but that didn’t work. They opened the unlocked door and woke him. He had extremely slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol. Deputies also saw an open Busch Light beer can in the center console. The man was agitated and police had to repeat their questions. He told officers he’d had a few beers but didn’t know what time he had his last drink. He said he was on his way to the casino. Officers also found four bundles of $100 bills in the vehicle, totaling thousands of dollars.

Police learned Sosinsky was on felony parole, had a .02 alcohol restriction and nine previous OWI convictions between 1991 and 2016. Sosinsky refused to perform field sobriety tests, though police already had probable cause for an OWI arrest.

While at the Pierce County Jail, Sosinsky became increasingly upset and swore repeatedly at officers and jail staff. He also threatened to “kill you all.” He also refused to submit to a blood draw, so police obtained a warrant and transported him to River Falls Area Hospital where River Falls police officers had to assist deputies. He was yelling and screaming and acting belligerently toward staff. Back at the jail, Sosinsky claimed to be suicidal and failed booking. He claimed he was “done complying.”

Sosinsky is scheduled to appear at a status conference at 11:30 a.m. Feb. 3.