SUV rolls over from bridge onto I-41/894 SB, driver arrested for OWI

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A 25-year-old female driver was arrested for operating while impaired after rolling her Jeep Commander onto I-41/894 SB from the Lincoln overpass early Tuesday, March 14.

The West Allis Police Department tells CBS 58 that the call about the incident came in just after 2 a.m. as the vehicle landed on its roof on the freeway.

"I heard a screech like a screech and then a kind of like explosion of metal and like particles of car. And then there was a pause and there was another boom!," said Kazuri Sytsma, he and his girlfriend Kaitlyn Ollinger heard the incident when it happened while hanging out late Monday night into Tuesday, "I came out here and I had to go check to make sure my car was okay because this road along here is very dangerous."

With a fence being visibly crashed through on the overpass, authorities believe that speed was a contributing factor to the accident, along with the driver's alleged impaired state.

After the accident, temporary orange fencing was put up around the damage to the overpass.

Ollinger says they didn't know what had happened until the say the fencing.

"And I said what the heck happened? Like I saw the cones and he's like what?, I'm like the fence is like completely gone," said Ollinger.

The driver was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the crash and was reportedly uninjured, having refused treatment at the scene.

Some traffic disruptions were caused on I-41/894, but authorities were able to clear the scene and reopen the freeway to normal traffic.

The driver was arrested at the scene for OWI charges.

"It's sad when you hear that it's allegedly from drunk driving. You know, you hear all the statistics and everything you know about people dying and crashes. It's just sad," said Ollinger.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened in the Milwaukee area.

In February of 2021, a truck fell 70 feet when it skidded off a ramp at the zoo interchange, the driver didn't appear to be impaired.

Two weeks later, a woman fell off the Marquette interchange and was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Analysts say traffic fatalities are up 7% in Wisconsin, and 39% of fatal crashes involve alcohol.