Carnival Worker Drives Lawnmower Drunk With Stolen Rifle, Police Say

A traveling carnival worker is accused of stealing a rifle and vodka and driving drunk on a pilfered lawnmower until it ran out of gas and he experienced heart problems.

Waukesha firefighters treating 47-year-old Richard D. Martinson at 8:43 p.m. Wednesday contacted police after they believed Martinson had a firearm in his duffle bag, according to a criminal complaint.

Martinson was charged Friday in Waukesha County Circuit Court with possession of a firearm by a felon, felony theft-special facts, misdemeanor theft, carrying a concealed weapon and obstructing an officer.

Martinson remains jailed in lieu of $20,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to 10-1/4 years in prison.

When Waukesha police officers made contact with Martinson in the 2800 block of North University Drive, his eyes were glassy and bloodshot and he smelled like intoxicants, the complaint states. He provided an incorrect address and an incorrect birthdate to officers because he had a warrant for his arrest in Walworth County.

A Waukesha police officer found a 6-inch-long knife with a military pattern while the officer searched Martinson at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, the complaint states.

While police officer were investigating the call on North University Drive, they received a report of a burglary in the 2900 block of Coventry Lane where Martinson lived. A man at the home told police he rents out rooms in the home and that he believed Martinson had stolen a bottle of vodka, a rifle and a lawnmower, the complaint states.

The homeowner identified the rifle and lawnmower that were found with Martinson as his missing items, the complaint states.

Martinson’s fiancée told officers they have lived in Waukesha for two weeks as they are traveling carnival workers. Martinson was drinking all day, the fiancée told police, and she left the home to run errands and avoid Martinson. Other people in the house left with her and they locked Martinson, who came outside, out of the house. When they returned, they found a missing screen above the kitchen window and learned the gun was missing, the complaint states.

Martinson admitted to being drunk and told police he took the rifle because he was afraid of the homeowner’s fiancée. He didn’t think using the lawnmower was considered theft because he had driven it before, the complaint states.