MORTON GROVE, Illinois (WLS) — A man was arrested and charged with DUI after a car accident resulted in a vehicle was hit by a train Thursday evening in the northern suburbs.

Witnesses told ABC7 the Amtrak train collided with the car moments after a group of Good Samaritans helped the driver out of his vehicle that was stuck on the tracks in Morton Grove. However, when the police intervened on the scene, the driver was arrested.

Morton Grove police say Malecki was driving drunk. Mount Prospect man arrested and charged with DUI.

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Debris from the crash was removed from the tracks Friday, but the near-tragedy in Morton Grove still lingers with witness David Murphy

“He didn’t slow down. He didn’t stop,” said witness David Murphy. “I mean, I don’t think it could.”

Murphy had just gotten off a Metra train on his way home Thursday night.

“It went through the car,” Murphy said. “I was probably one of the first people in that group and in front of us a car crossed right in front of us, not in the intersection, but through the grass, on the tracks, and it kind of overturned parallel to the southbound track. “

Police said Pawel Malecki, 56, was driving when he hit a parked vehicle on nearby Lehigh Boulevard before careening onto the tracks and his Acura became disabled.

“When we got close to the car, he was still there trying to mess with it on the southbound lane,” Murphy said. “So, we started yelling at him, ‘You’ve got to get out of the car.’ One of the Metra passengers grabbed him and helped him off the tracks.”

Just minutes after Malecki was brought to safety, he was speaking with officers who initially responded to a reckless driving complaint.

“The first Amtrak train that came in was moving pretty fast,” Murphy said. “I mean, I don’t know how fast Amtrak goes. It felt like 50, 60 miles an hour and hit the car.”

Fortunately, no one else was in the car when the Amtrak train split the vehicle in half.

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Police said Malecki is no longer in custody. He is due in court in Skokie in December.

“He’ll have other things to deal with, but he’ll be able to see another day,” Murphy said.