Mukwonago parade wrong-way driver; police say 'confused,' not intoxicated

Mukwonago parade wrong-way driver

A parade turned into a police investigation in Mukwonago last weekend. A driver who shouldn?t have been on the route turned into the crowd and kept going for blocks.

MUKWONAGO, Wis. - A parade turned into a police investigation in Mukwonago last weekend.

A driver who shouldn’t have been on the route turned into the crowd and kept going for blocks.

What we know:

The Father's Day Parade stretched through Mukwonago. Traffic shut down at 11:30 a.m., with the parade kicking off at noon.

Viewer video shows a driver leaving the Cousins Subs parking lot, and turning onto Highway 83 while the parade was underway. It happened about 15 minutes after the parade started.

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Christopher Alexander noticed early on that something wasn’t right.

What they're saying:

"The streets are lined with people [...] he’s going the wrong way," he said. "He’s turning right. And he’s far over right [...] "I think there was like 3 or 4 kids right there on the corner."

The Village of Mukwonago Police Department said a 75-year-old man was behind the wheel. Investigators say the man drove south for one block through the parade before he was confronted.

"I started hearing screaming, yelling," Alexander said. "I jumped up from my chair right here."

The man continued for another block, where he was stopped by a police officer directing traffic at Henry Street.

Dig deeper:

Mukwonago officers did not arrest or cite the driver, but they did order him to retake a drivers test.

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FOX6 News received a copy of the report, which notes the driver’s "lack of knowledge of traffic laws." Police say the man was not intoxicated, just "confused."

"He didn’t seem with it at all," Alexander said.

FOX6 News reached out to the Mukwonago Lions Club, who sponsors the parade, but has not heard back.

A spokesperson for Cousins Subs provided the following statement:

"The staff at our Mukwonago location was not aware of the incident until after it had occurred and we are still gathering details. The restaurant remained open during its regular hours on Sunday and focused on serving parade-goers, many of whom walked in from the nearby route.

This location is part of a shared parking lot with multiple points of access and neighboring businesses. To our knowledge, no barricades were placed by the event organizers.

We defer to local authorities for any additional details regarding the incident."