Oakland woman stops runaway car in Auburn

AUBURN -- The man behind the wheel of the speeding vehicle thrashed in the throes of a grand mal seizure, but it seemed that only Jill Crowell recognized that fact.

Early-morning traffic rolled en masse in both directions along the four lanes of Center Street as drivers scurried to their jobs, but the 2000 Chevrolet Blazer never slowed. Drivers pounded horns and wrestled with their steering wheels as the runaway vehicle tore into the roadway from a McDonald's parking lot.

Crowell, one car back from the scene, heard the horns and saw the brake lights. But what she saw inside the Blazer made her realize that this was more than a case of road rage.

The man, 38-year-old Auburn resident Kenneth Ouellette, was making abrupt movements with arms, striking himself in the head and face.

Crowell, a 31-year-old registered nurse from Oakland, knew this was a medical emergency. So she took the only action she felt made sense: She stepped on the gas and went after the Blazer.

"I think in those situations, you just kind of get a focus, and you prioritize," Crowell said later Wednesday. "Getting the car stopped was a priority, and then making sure he was OK."

What Crowell didn't know was that the careening vehicle also carried Ouellette's infant son.

Threading her way across four lanes of traffic, she chased the Blazer. The 7:30 a.m. traffic somehow parted to make way for the vehicle's blind charge as it headed for the Cumberland Farms convenience store on the other side of the street.

Crowell accelerated a short distance beyond the Blazer, grabbed her cellular phone and leapt from her vehicle.

Dressed in a suit for a breakfast meeting presentation -- she had quit her nursing job earlier in the year for a sales position with a pharmaceutical company -- she faced Ouellette's vehicle as it rolled straight toward her.

Two-inch heels clattering across the asphalt, she sprinted towards it, hoping the doors were unlocked.

When she reached the Blazer, she saw a tiny bundle in the back seat that gave her a jolt.

"His little baby had blond hair, just like my son," Crowell said. "I thought, 'I was supposed to be here this morning.' "

She wrenched open the door, leaned across the still-convulsing man and jammed the gear shift into park.

She grabbed the man's hands, which were still belaboring his own head, and called 911.

As a rescue unit from Auburn Fire Department and an ambulance from United approached, she took a peek at the baby. He was silent, apparently not concerned, or else unaware of the drama. Ouellette gradually became more stable and conscious, gesturing toward the back seat in motions that Crowell interpreted as concern for his son.

"I just remember very blue eyes, and they were just staring right at me for a couple of seconds, just dazed and confused about the whole situation," Crowell said.

Emergency medical technicians arrived minutes later and took over. The ambulance took Ouellette and his son to St. Mary's Regional Medical Center, according to Auburn Police Lt. Gary Boulet.

Ouellette's mother was advised of the situation and agreed to pick up her grandson, Boulet said.

A hospital supervisor was unable to report Ouellette's condition before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, and also said she was unable to confirm whether Ouellette had been admitted to St. Mary's.

"I just hope that everything turns out OK, and he just doesn't have to run into that situation again," she said. "It must have been frightening."

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