Neighbors say they tried to stop a suspected drunken driver before she put her sedan into reverse, sped off and backed into a Madison house, nearly hitting a father and two small children.
Police say 22-year old Morgan McKenna of Oregon was slumped over in the driver’s seat of her sedan Sunday just before 11 a.m. in the driveway of a home on Madeline Island on the city’s west side.
Joel Henry says he and his wife Cheryl joined other neighbors in trying to rouse the driver and get her help, as the car continued idling.
“We knocked on the windows and she didn’t respond; we’re knocking on the windshield,” Henry tells 27 News.
Henry says an arriving ambulance appeared to jolt her.
“I said, ‘Turn your key off, unlock your door, unlock your door,’ ” Henry says.
“She looked like she panicked and took off and went in reverse, completely out of control,” he says.
Henry tells 27 News the sedan backed into a mailbox, nearly missed a driveway basketball hoop and smashed through a children’s swing-and-slide set before careening into the house on the adjacent street at 809 Ondossagon Way.
Henry says he and other neighbors ran to the house to ensure those inside, and McKenna were okay. Police say the car nearly missed a father and his infant child, and his two year old child. ”
“He was literally sitting right there,” Henry tells 27 News. ” I think he propelled out of his seat.”
Henry says it’s fortunate no one was immediately outside the home.
“It was a quiet morning, the kids could have been out playing, it was lovely,” Henry tells 27 News. “If anybody was on…either of those play gyms certainly could have been seriously injured or killed.”
McKenna was arrested on tentative charges of operating while intoxicated (OWI) second offense and second degree reckless endangerment. A representative of the Dane County District Attorney’s office says McKenna is expected to appear in court Tuesday.
“She was clearly a danger,” Henry says.
For more go to WKOW: https://wkow.com/news/top-stories/2018/10/22/neighbors-tried-to-stop-suspected-drunk-driver-before-crash-into-madison-home/