All he had to do is let one of the witnesses who offered drive him home.
Matt
Source
Drunken-driving fears end with injuries
BY TAMMY STABLES BATTAGLIA
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
He's in a back brace with a broken neck and spine, a detached tendon in his hand and his teeth shaved off from being dragged at a St. Clair County boat ramp.
But 25-year-old Christopher Brass of Memphis is being called a hero by St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon after police say he was seriously injured trying to stop a man from driving drunk while towing a boat.
"I tried the best I could," Brass said Thursday. "He could've gotten somebody else, head-on. He could have killed someone else."
Robert Degregory, 26, of Ira Township was arraigned Thursday in 72nd District Court in Marine City on charges of operating while intoxicated and causing serious harm, assault with intent to do bodily harm, driving with a suspended license and failing to stop at a serious injury accident.
Bond was set at $15,000. A preliminary exam was set for July 8.
Brass and others at the Ira Township boat ramp off M-29 said they realized Degregory shouldn't be driving as they helped him load his boat at 10 p.m. Monday. Christopher pleaded with Degregory not to drive and tried to take the keys. Others offered to drive the man home -- boat and all.
"He decided to just peel out and turned into me," said Brass, who was standing near the driver's side. "I got ran over by the trailer. I don't know how I lived through it."
Other people at the ramp then called 911 and followed Degregory until he was arrested by New Baltimore police.
"It is this type of involvement by citizens that makes our job easier," Donnellon said.