TONY TRZECIAK

Tony actually should have been a member of the class of 1988. But he must have been a few credits short, as he's officially listed as a member of the class of 1989. Power to him for sticking it out.

Tony and I never associated at all. But we crossed paths quite a bit in detention. And Tony was actually a pretty nice guy. He'd always talk and joke with me, asking what I had done to get my detentions. He seemed like a good guy.

If memory serves, Tony wore a white jean jacket for years.

I ran into Tony a few times at the video store. And his good natured character carried over from school - with one exception. One night he came into the store drunk. And he was rude and obnoxious. In fact, he was an asshole. Some people get chatty and funny when they're drunk - like me. While others become mean drunks - like Tony.

Tony has had quite a few run-ins with the law over the years. He's been cited for disorderly conduct, burglary, theft, unlawful use of a telephone, bail jumping, obstructing an officer, fleeing, refusal to take a breathalyzer, a few traffic offenses, and a stunning eight drunk driving offenses. Eight! The previous class record was four. Tony doubled that. Yet Tony still doesn't have the record. Stay tuned.

Tony has stayed in Two Rivers most of his life. It doesn't look like he's been married. Actually, Tony may be in prison right now, as a result of his most recent drunk driving offense. I'm no expert. But I'd guess that he has a drinking problem.

UPDATE - 4/16/07 - Kevin Dehne (see his long comments below) found two pictures of Tony. They were taken at some point in the 1990's. The second one is Tony and his daughter.





UPDATE - 6/14/07 - Well, it took Tony five more years. But he has managed to break (or possibly tie with Randy Ertman) the class record for drunk driving offenses. Whatever the case, no one else has more. He won't be able to go for double digits until 2010. here's the article from today's Herald Times Reporter.


Man convicted of 9th OWI


MANITOWOC — A Manitowoc man was sent to prison recently for three years after being convicted of his ninth offense of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Tony R. Trzeciak, 37, pleaded no contest to the felony charge in Manitowoc County Circuit Court on May 25. He was sentenced to three years in prison and three years on extended supervision following his prison stay.

As conditions of extended supervision, Trzeciak is required to pay a $2,759 fine and maintain absolute sobriety. His license was revoked for 36 months.

Trzeciak faced up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“You pose a danger to yourself and a danger to the rest of society,” Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Jerome Fox said at sentencing. “You choose to drink and you choose to drive.”

According to the criminal complaint, at 3:45 p.m. on Jan. 19, Manitowoc Police Officer Robert Weyer responded to a report of a vehicle that left the roadway in the 1500 block of Rapids Road.

The vehicle was able to return to the road and left the scene. Trzeciak went to a Whitelaw apartment where law enforcement officials found him, the complaint says.

Weyer, who returned to where the car left the road, found that the vehicle partially drove through a snow-covered, grassy area at Calvary Assembly of God.

The complaint says Trzeciak had a 0.202 blood-alcohol content. The legal limit in Wisconsin is 0.08.

Trzeciak’s last OWI conviction was in December 2002, according to court records.