Driver rolls his SUV near marina

BY PETE WICKLUND
Journal Times

Friday, November 9, 2007 10:52 AM CST

A man appeared to escape serious injury after a rollover crash at approximately 9:30 Thursday night in Racine Harbor Park at Reefpoint Marina.

The driver, whose identity was not available at press time, was driving a 2007 Toyota RAV4 around the bend where the Christopher Columbus Causeway curves at the lakefront. Witnesses said the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed when the driver lost control, hit a sign post and rolled several times on the rocks along the lake.

The vehicle came to rest on its roof.

Racine paramedics took the man to St. Mary’s Medical Center.

The driver was conscious after the crash and when firefighters removed him from the SUV. Police and witnesses described his actions as belligerent. Police and witnesses said alcohol appeared to contribute to the crash.

Dan O’Coner of Racine was playing in a pool league at the nearby Spinnakers restaurant just prior to the crash. He said he was distracted from his game by a ruckus near the restaurant’s entrance, where the driver of the car was being escorted from the restaurant after being denied service at the bar.

Police and witnesses at the scene said there were unconfirmed reports that the driver also was denied service at other Downtown taverns.

O’Coner said he and other patrons at the restaurant watched as the man left Spinnakers parking lot.

“We got a good view from there,” O’Coner said pointing to the windows of Spinnakers. “He just punched it.”

O’Coner said the vehicle rolled at least four times.

Ironically, the Spinnakers pool league was playing a team of off-duty Racine firefighters at the time of the crash. O’Coner said several of those firefighters ran to aid the driver before on-duty personnel responded from Station 1 near City Hall and Station 8 on Geneva Street. The Fire Department response included special operations personnel.

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