Bradley Zika, 31, was formally charged with a felony Thursday, following a Monday accident in which police say he hit a UW-Madison student with his car while driving drunk.
Dane County assistant district attorney Mike Verveer laid out the state's case against Zika during Zika's initial appearance Thursday at the Madison Public Safety Building.
Verveer reported that police found Zika sitting in the snow near the car that struck UW-Madison student Patricia Wagner on Langdon Street in front of Memorial Union.
Wagner was hospitalized with a fractured skull, a broken nose and other non-life threatening injuries.
Police quoted Zika as saying shortly after the accident, ""My God, I'm so drunk,"" Verveer said.
Verveer reported during the Thursday's hearing that police found several intoxicants in his vehicle, including an open bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and an open can of beer. Zika was forbidden to consume alcohol at the time of the accident due to previous criminal charges, Verveer said.
At the hearing, Verveer reported that Zika failed field sobriety tests and was sent directly to detoxification after being released from the hospital Monday night. While in detox, Zika was ""so intoxicated"" he ripped the bed into pieces, and attempted to use the pieces to escape through the window, Verveer said. The district attorney's office is awaiting lab results to determine Zika's blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident.
Dane County Court Commissioner Jason Hanson said at the hearing: ""We have multiple violations. The only conclusion I can reach is that Mr. Zika is out of control at this time.""
Zika's bail was set at $6,000, and if he can post bail he will be placed on a strict bail-monitoring program. As part of the program, he would be forced to confirm his sobriety multiple times a day to authorities and would be forbidden to drive a car or consume alcohol.
Gina Bosben, Zika's defense lawyer, said he has no objection to the loss of driving privileges and that he ""realizes he has a serious problem with alcohol.""
