MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Professional Police Association's executive director has been charged with drunken driving.

Columbia County Sheriff's deputies said that they found James L. Palmer II standing beside WPPA finance director Jean O. Steinhauer's car early on Dec. 19. The State Patrol said Steinhauer had rammed her car into a shed.

Palmer told a sheriff's deputy that Steinhauer called him and told him she had gone off the road and he had driven out to the scene. Breath tests showed Palmer's blood alcohol content was 0.146 percent and Steinhauer's was 0.15 percent.

Palmer was charged on Dec. 21 with first offense operating while under the influence. Steinhauer hasn't been charged.

Palmer issued a statement saying he was ashamed at "this deplorable exercise of poor judgment."

The WPPA represents police statewide in contract negotiations and government lobbying.