Driver Injured, Arrested for OWI After Car Slams Into BW3 Lot

**Updated 5:30 p.m.

The driver of a silver SUV that was in an accident at Highways 31 and 11 Wednesday also crossed lanes of traffic and slammed into at eight other vehicles in the parking lot of Buffalo Wild Wings.

Brian Thilleman, 31, of Sturtevant, was booked into the Racine County Jail on a single felony charge of operating while impaired, causing injury. He was also cited for reckless driving and violation of traffic control signal.

Mount Pleasant police say Thilleman was traveling east on Durand Avenue, coming from Walmart, when he ran the red light and struck a car in the intersection of Highways 31 and 11. A woman in that vehicle suffered some kind of back injury.

From there, MPPD Sgt. Shawn Lueke said, Thilleman continued driving east, and after he was on the other side of the intersection, he crossed the median and three lanes of westbound traffic. Thilleman then went over the curb in front of Buffalo Wild Wings, down the embankment and into the parking lot where he slammed into eight more vehicles.

Beth David, founder of Racine Uncovered, was listening to the scanner reports, and at first, officials believed Thilleman suffered from a medical condition that triggered the accident.

But Lueke told Patch that police believe Thilleman was driving while impaired and may have been doing drugs in the car. 

"We believe he was under the influence of some kind of drug," she said. "It was determined on scene that he was not suffering from a medical condition, and witnesses say they may have seen him doing drugs while he was driving."

Thilleman was escorted to Wheaton Franciscan St. Mary's for treatment of injuries to his face and for a legal blood draw before being taken to RCJ.

Lueke said calls came in around 1:53 p.m. for a hit-and-run at the corner of Highways 31 and 11. Subsequent calls indicated the car ended up in the parking lot of Buffalo Wild Wings.

"We thought these were two separate incidents, but it appears this is one continuous situation," she added.

Though there were not any additional injuries at the restaurant, a woman at the original accident site complained of back pain, Lueke stated. "He's very lucky no one was killed."

Witnesses on scene at BW3 reported to Patch that the driver - Thilleman - told police he remembered sneezing and coughing and nothing else.

"He was traveling at a high rate of speed, and he took out the electric lines for the restaurant so they couldn't take credit cards," a man told Patch. 

Fortunately, there were no other injuries in the restaurant's parking lot, but several vehicles suffered extensive damage from Thilleman's silver SUV slamming into them.