Get local stories sent straight to your inbox as news breaks.

Watch the video: Several cars hit during chaos on Center Street, driver cited on Friday

Hide Transcript Show Transcript

MICHELLE: JULIE, A FAMILY OUTING ON A SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND A NURSE ON HIS LUNCH BREAK, JUST A FEW OF THE EYE WITNESSES WHO WATCHED THE MOTORIST MELEE UNFOLD. THEY ALL WANT TO KNOW WHY DID THE 33-YEAR-OLD DRIVER CAUSE SUCH CHAOS? THE SOUND OF SQUEALING TIRES -- >> I SAW THE BRONCO CIRCLING AROUND FOR AT LEAST A MINUTE. MICHELLE: CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF NURSE NICK HORNIG. >> GOING UP ON MEDIANS. MICHELLE: HE STARTED RECORDING THE TRAFFIC TROUBLE ON HIS CELL PHONE. >> HE JUST KIND OF ROLLED TO A STOP. MICHELLE: BUT STOPPED WHEN THE DRIVER STOPPED. >> I THOUGHT IT WAS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, OR HE MIGHT START DRIVING CRAZY AGAIN SOMEBODY’S -- AGAIN, AND I THOUGHT SOMEBODY’S GOT TO DO SOMETHING. >> HE’S COMING OUR WAY, GO. MICHELLE: HORNIG DIDN’T REALIZE THE DISORDLEY DRIVING STARTED 20 MINUTES EARLIER AT 72ND AND CENTER. >> I HONKED THE HORN ONE TIME BECAUSE HE WAS KIND OF IN MY LANE. MICHELLE: THAT’S WHEN SCOTT AND THERESA WHITE AND THEIR SIX-YEAR-OLD SON FIRST ENCOUNTERED THE WHITE BRONCO. >> WE KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING REALLY WRONG. MICHELLE: SCOTT WHITE PICKED UP HIS PHONE TOO, FIRST TO CALL 911, THEN TO RECORD THE CENTER STREET CONFUSION. AN OUT OF CONTROL DRIVER BARRELING DOWN ON TRAFFIC HITTING SEVERAL CARS IN HIS WAY. >> WE GOT A VEHICLE SWERVING CORY SMOKING -- OR A SMOKING VEHICLE, WITH CARS HONKING HORNS BEHIND HIM, SOMETHING IS WRONG. MICHELLE: TWO OF THE SMASHED CARS GOT IN ON THE CHASE OF THE WHITE BRONCO, TOO. >> STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP. MICHELLE: WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE AS MUCH NOISE, HONKING OUR HORNS, TRYING TO ALERT EVERYBODY ELSE, BECAUSE SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT. >> I OPENED THE DOOR, AND THE GUY WAS AWAKE JUST TOTALLY SPACED OUT. I SHOOK HIM, "ARE YOU OK?" AND HE JUST KIND OF STARED AT ME, "WHAT’S YOUR NAME?" MICHELLE: BEFORE CHECKING FOR A PULSE, HORNIG GRABBED THE KEYS. THE DRIVER DIDN’T FIGHT HIM OR RESPOND. PARAMEDICS TOOK THE MAN TO THE HOSPITAL. INCREDIBLY, THE ONLY PATIENT FROM THE ORDEAL TO GO TO THE ER. >> WHAT WAS HE DOING, WHY WAS HE DOING IT? WHY DID HE PUT SO MANY PEOPLE AT RISK? MICHELLE: LOTS OF QUESTIONS. ACCORDING TO THE POLICE REPORT, OFFICERS DESCRIBED THE MAN AS BEING IN ALTERED STATE AND BECOMING COMBATIVE IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM. THEY ADMITTED HIM DUE TO THE "UNKNOWN NATURE OF HIS

Advertisement Watch the video: Several cars hit during chaos on Center Street, driver cited on Friday Police say hit & run suspect was in 'apparent altered state' Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A man was cited with willful reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and possession of marijuana, among other citations Friday in connection with a wild ride captured on camera. Omaha Police said Darnell Brown was behind the wheel of a white SUV last Saturday when he was seen on camera barreling toward vehicles and hitting several cars. KETV NewsWatch 7 viewers sent us video of the chaos that lasted for miles."I honked the horn one time because he was kind of in my lane," driver, Theresa White said.White, her husband Scott, and their son, 6, first encountered the driver at 72nd and Center St."We knew there was something really wrong," White said.Her husband called 911 and then started recording the traffic trouble.Omaha police said the trouble stretched from 72nd to 42nd streets.Some drivers who were hit followed the SUV, which you can see in the video.The Whites followed the driver until he came to a stop at the intersection of 42nd and Center St."We got a vehicle swerving, smoking vehicle, cars honking horns behind him, something is wrong," Scott White said.White said they were yelling and honking trying to alert other drivers of the out of the control Bronco."We're trying to do what we can to help other people," White said.The sound of squealing tires caught the attention of VA nurse, Nick Hornig. He was outside on his lunch break."He was driving in circles for at least a minute, going up on medians and into oncoming traffic," Hornig said.He recorded the confusion on his cell phone too. He put his phone down when the driver came to a stop."I thought it was a medical emergency, or he might start driving crazy again. I knew somebody's got to do something," Hornig said.He opened the door and grabbed the keys out of the ignition."The guy was awake and just totally spaced out. I shook him. I asked, ' Are you okay?' and he just kind of stared at me," Hornig said.Omaha police said the 33-year-old driver was in an 'apparent altered state' when they found him at 42nd and Center.Paramedics took him to Nebraska Medicine. Doctors released the driver.