BAD AXE, MI -- Two years ago, a St. Clair Shores woman was arrested with a blood alcohol level so high, police initially thought their Breathalyzers had to be malfunctioning.

Now, she is suing a Huron County Sheriff's deputy on the grounds he didn't adequately protect her when she drunkenly fell at the jail and broke her face.

Tammy L. Korthals, 46, through attorneys Christopher J. Trainor and Amy J. Derouin on Wednesday, Feb. 1, filed her lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Detroit. Korthals is seeking more than $75,000 in damages from Huron County and Deputy Bradley Strozeski.

The lawsuit claims that Korthals was given a Breathalyzer during a traffic stop in Caseville on Oct. 12 and registering 0.346. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol level reaches 0.08.

The reading was so high, Strozeski allegedly thought his equipment was malfunctioning and had one of the Caseville officers use his Breathalyzer on Korthals, according to the lawsuit. The other officer's test yielded an even higher result of 0.357, the suit states.

Strozeski arrested Korthals and transported her to Scheurer Hospital in Pigeon.

"He reported that, at the time of her arrest, her eyes were bloodshot and watery, her speech was slurred and that she mumbled, and that her clothes were disarranged and inappropriate," the suit states.

Hospital staff took a sample of Korthals' blood for testing. The results indicated her blood alcohol level was at 0.41, the suit states.

In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol content hits 0.08; a person is considered super drunk when the blood alcohol content reaches 0.17.

On being medically cleared, Korthals was discharged from the hospital and released into Strozeski's care. The lawsuit does not indicate how long she spent at the hospital before she was released to be taken to jail.

"For a 140-pound woman, a blood-alcohol level of 0.30 can be enough to cause death," the suit states. "Regardless of whether Plaintiff had received medical clearance to leave the hospital, Defendant Strozeski knew that Plaintiff was severely intoxicated both at the time of her arrest and at the time of her transport to the jail, and he knew or should have known that she would not be able to walk safely without assistance in her severely intoxicated condition."

At the Huron County Jail, Strozeski walked up a flight of stairs with Korthals behind him. Korthals had her hands cuffed behind her back at the time, the suit states.

Korthals ended up falling, striking her left eye on the corner of a half-wall next to her. She twisted around and fell backwards to the bottom of the stairs, striking her head on the floor and knocking herself unconscious, the suit states.

Korthals was transported via ambulance to the hospital. She suffered "significant fractures to her orbital bones in her left eye, neck injury, a traumatic brain injury, intracranial bleed, and subdural hematoma," the suit states.

In the suit, Korthals is alleging her rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments were violated. The lawsuit claims that Strozeski was grossly negligent, that he willfully and wantonly engaged in misconduct, and that Huron County acted recklessly in depriving Korthals of her constitutional right to care.

"Defendants had the ability to reduce or eliminated Plaintiff's risk of injury when she walked," the suit states. "Specifically, Defendants had the ability to assist Plaintiff in avoiding any injury from walking while she was severely intoxicated. Defendants' wanton indifference to the risk of injury to Plaintiff was equivalent to a willingness that Plaintiff suffer an injury caused by her attempt to walk while severely intoxicated."

Korthals was convicted of operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.17 or higher -- colloquially known as being "super drunk." In January 2015, a Huron County judge sentenced her to 30 days in jail and one year of probation. The judge also ordered her to perform 10 days of community service and pay $1,905 in fines and costs.

Stephen J. Allen, Huron County's public guardian attorney, said Feb. 9 that the county had not yet been served. He had no additional comment.

The suit's next court date is pending.