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Teen rescued by senior after Waukesha crash, arrested for OWI

Posted at 9:02 PM, Jul 09, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-09 23:34:25-04

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Just before midnight, people called 911 about a woman driving all over the road through downtown Waukesha.

Police said the 19-year-old driver first took out a pole outside Discount Liquor at the corner of Barstow Street and Corrina Boulevard. Then, continued down the street straight towards a dead end at a senior apartment building.

The driver then jumped the sidewalk, hitting a woman's walker and nearly missing her and another senior.

"You can see the car hit the curb right here and she was sitting right here on the bench with her walker in front of her," said witness Ray Neustaedter.

The driver then clipped a tree and drove into the water.

"She hit me on the bench and she is in the river. Her car is in the river," said an unidentified 911 callers.

That's when the man standing with the victim jumped into action to save the suspected drunk driver.

"He had taken off his shoes and jumped in the water to pull the woman out," said Neustaedter.

The car was partially submerged in the Fox River.

"She might have been semi-conscious. He said he was banging on the window and she wasn't opening it and he had to get her out through the backdoor," said Neustaedter.

The 19-year-old driver was pulled to safety just as police arrived to put her in handcuffs. She is now facing multiple charges including owi causing injury.