Updated 12:22 p.m. on Jan. 23 with new details from Shorewood police
Police say, the elderly man who was taken to the hospital Saturday afternoon after hitting several cars in the parking lot, sparking his car on fire, suffered from an undetermined medical condition.
Around 2:30 p.m., the man hit five legally parked, unoccupied cars in the lot, before jumping the curb and coming to a rest in the northeast corner.
Emergency personnel arrived to find the man still in the car, and the car on fire. Shorewood Police Chief David Banaszynski said in a heroic effort, two officers broke a window and pulled the man from the car. He added the car was engulfed with flames when police arrived and any hesitation on their part could have proved fatal.
"Forty to 50 seconds later, it could have been worse," he said.
Police are still unaware of the man's condition as of Monday morning, but he is expected to survive injuries.
Police continue to investigate the circumstances behind the accident.
Is your partner ok? Is he/she/it shaken?
Great comments. Just laughing a bit right now. If this guy was "drunk" as Anne pointed out to everyone how did he make it to the parking lot in the 1st place w/out crashing into anyone along the way and be able to stop at all the right times/lights/signs w/out blowing through since he obviously couldn't do it in the parking lot? Then again he could be one of those old timers who regularily uses either the pool/hot tob or fitness center and was slamming beers in the locker room. My guesses are as follows: He either had 1) a heart attack 2) seizure 3) missed taking some meds 4) combo of the above. Either way, I hope he is ok.
Pick a florist/bouquet and set a limit and anyone interested can contribute whatever until the limit is met and said florist can make the deliver courtesy of the TROLLERS. I'm sure that would lift his spirits knowing that he not only made the news but gets flowers out of it after he gets hit with some outrageous hospital bill and his auto insurance is either cancelled or premium is exhorbitantly increased upon review.
$5-10 can add up and is really no skin off of ones back (or I should say many people, though not all) especially for one in need. It's not that hard and I'd personally rather stay anonymous in any situation like this and maybe Adam McCoy/Patch could get some more info/be point person..
BTW, Bano's little Bro is a manager @ Baker's Square so you might even score some discounts for the big event.
That said, kudos to our police officers! Great work!
"I'm sure the gentleman's friends and family have learned by now who it is and are able to lend support." Really, "you're sure"? How did you come to that conclusion w/out knowing anything about this person/his family/their circumstances? OOOps, maybe this "story" isn't taking on the ARC that you think it should. I'll let Patch decide as to whether they want to pursue this any further and see if anything needs/can be done to assist this person, if they need any, however small or large it may end up being. From my own experience, when either of my parents were in the hospital w/ ailments in their later years, they didn't want any of their friends to know of their condition or that they were in the hospital. Immediate family only. Only until after they were released and then they would brush over whatever may have occurred if the subject ever came up. Though, financially they were in a position to never be burdened/overwhelmed w/ whatever bills followed. Also, who knew an 80 yr. old man could enjoy a hospital room filled w/ all different types of bouquets of flowers..(Trader Joes). Sitting there all day, waiting for tests to be run/therapy sessions to go through and eating crappy/tasteless food gets old real quick. At least patients can now overlook Lake Michigan @ the new St. Mary's, but most people can't wait to get out of the hospital because it's a pretty depressing place to be.
You should look into being a beat reporter for a local news station. I can only imagine how you could enhance the daily drive by shootings/murders that occur in the city. At least people could enjoy some of what's being reported day in & day out. You take Ted Baxter reporting to new level.