Man drives car over bluff near Lake Michigan in Sheboygan



SHEBOYGAN -- Rescue teams in Sheboygan saved the driver of a car who drove over the edge of a 100 foot bluff in Sheboygan Sunday afternoon.

Neighbors say they're still in a state of shock after witnessing a man speed through a yard and over the edge of a cliff, plunging to the edge of Lake Michigan's chilly waters. Karen Howland saw something as frightening as it was unfamiliar around 12:30 Sunday afternoon. "I'm sitting in the living room, and I hear this horrible noise, and I'm looking out the window as a car comes by, going 40, 50 miles an hour, right through these trees. I'm so thankful the car did not go through our house. It's within feet of our house," Howland said.

The car crashed through the trees and tumbled more than 100 feet to the jagged rocks below. "The terrain at the bottom of the bluff, he went 150 feet. He crashed into these big cement boulders that are down there. There's water around the boulders. There's a stone jutting out and that's where he landed," Howland said.

Police shut down the street for hours as emergency crews attempted a high-stakes rescue. Witnesses say the driver was removed from the car and then taken by boat to the nearest beach, where a medical helicopter was waiting to take him to a Milwaukee area hospital. The car was brought up over the bluff, and eventually towed away.

At the water's edge, Howland can once again look out at the lake and find a sense of calm, knowing she avoided a calamity Sunday afternoon. "There are no words to be looking out your window and seeing a vehicle speeding by your window at 50 miles per hour," Howland said.

A police official at the scene Sunday says the driver was responsive when he was reached. Authorities say the investigation continues as to how and why this happened.