Drunk Driver Crashed Into Portage des Sioux Living Room, Deputy Says

A drunk driver missed a turn on Highway J went off the roadway Sunday, driving his van through a fence and into the living room of a Portage des Sioux home, said a St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department official.

Rickey A. Branch, 44, of Marshall, was charged Monday with driving while intoxicated as an aggravated offender and driving while his license was revoked.

A St. Charles County deputy said Branch was driving a maroon Ford van on Highway J in Portage des Sioux when it left the roadway. Branch told officers he missed a turn.

The van struck a fence, went up a porch and crashed into the living room of a home in the 1500 block of Common Field Street. The homeowners were asleep in their bedroom.

No one was injured, but the home sustained extensive damage. There were no passengers in the van.

A St. Charles County Sheriff’s deputy said Branch had a strong odor of alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot, droopy, dilated and glassy and his speech was slurred. Branch failed sobriety tests, the deputy reported.

Branch refused to take breath or blood tests. Officers got a warrant and a blood sample was taken.

He has two previous DWI convictions and one conviction for driving with excessive blood-alcohol content.

Branch is being held by St. Charles County Corrections. Bail was set at $50,000. He is required to wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet when out on bail.