Racine man arrested for his third OWI after crashing into car that then slammed into garage

MOUNT PLEASANT (WITI) -- A 49-year-old Racine man faces multiple charges after allegedly driving drunk through Mount Pleasant on Saturday evening, March 14th.

Officials say just before 7:30 p.m., the suspect was driving a pickup truck at a high rate of speed northbound on State Highway 32 -- and slammed into the back of a car. That collision caused the car to collide with a garage nearby. Two people inside the car were not hurt, but the car and garage sustained extensive damage.

After the collision, the driver in the pickup truck fled north on STH 32. A witness to the crash followed the suspect -- and provided police with a description.

Shortly after that, Mount Pleasant officers located the suspect vehicle heading southbound on STH 32 directly past the exact area where the crash had just occurred. They pulled him over and placed him under arrest.

It was Robert Julian's garage that was damaged in this incident. Because he's a contractor, he was able to fix it quickly but he fears this incident could've been much worse.

"Maybe it would have been worse if he had continued on in his night if he was already that impaired," Julian said.

And if that garage wasn't there to sustain the impact, Julian says he worries about what could've happened. Maybe the truck would've crashed into their home's bathroom.

"Right into the same area where we were giving the granddaughter a bath, so if it could have taken out damage like this it would have been a lot worse. Obviously you worry about the younger ones more than yourself," Julian said.

It was a close call followed by a lucky break as officials were able to take this driver into custody. Julian says the driver honked when he came back by the scene.

"Everybody looked and when someone honks, and it happened to be the same vehicle," Julian said.

The Racine man faces the following charges: