Woman Charged with Getting Beligerant with Cop

A 26-year-old Waukesha woman is facing charges after she allegedly refused to obey a police officer and flipped him off during a traffic stop.

Amanda L. Cleveland was charged in Waukesha County Circuit Court Friday with one count of failure to obey a traffic officer and one count of resisting an officer. If convicted, she faces up to 18 months in prison and $20,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint, at 2 a.m. Friday, an officer was stopped at a traffic light at St. Paul Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue when he discovered the license plates on the vehicle in front of his squad were suspended.

Once the light turned green, the officer turned on his lights to initiate a traffic stop, but Cleveland, who was driving the vehicle, only pulled over until the officer stop and then pulled back into the traffic lane, the complaint states.

Cleveland drove at 29 miles per hour and eventually pulled over again at Riverwalk Drive and South Prairie Avenue. The officer then used his megaphone to tell Cleveland to put her hands up, but she instead got out of the vehicle, according to the complaint.

She eventually got back into her car, the complaint states, but refused to place her hands in the air and instead put her left arm out the window to flip off the officer with her middle finger. She agreed to leave the vehicle for a second time, but then began to shout profanities at the officer.

Cleveland remained uncooperative, the complaint states, and was taken to the ground by the officer, but she continued to kick her legs and ripped the pants of one of the officers arresting her.

Cleveland had a blood alcohol level of 0.113 percent at the time of the incident and was also cited for operating while intoxicated, the complaint states.