Man arrested in Wisconsin on 36-year-old child support warrant

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A Georgia man pulled over for a traffic violation on his first trip back to Wisconsin in three decades was arrested on a 36-year-old warrant for child support, officials said on Monday.

Stephen Schmidt, 70, of Jonesboro, Georgia, was later released on a $2,000 bond.

Schmidt had been driving on Highway 41 in Fond du Lac on Friday when he was pulled over by a Wisconsin state trooper for driving without tail lights and having a loud car exhaust, Wisconsin State Patrol Sergeant Jeff Nelson said.

Because of a clerical error on the date of the original warrant, it took the trooper over an hour to determine that the man was wanted on an outstanding warrant for child support by Milwaukee County dating back to 1975, Nelson said.

"They used typewriters back then," he said.

Schmidt was held over the weekend in the Fond du Lac County Jail before posting bond. No lawyer for Schmidt was listed on the police report, and Schmidt was not available for comment.

He is expected to appear in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on the child support warrant, Nelson said.

(Writing and reporting by John Rondy; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Cynthia Johnston)