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Car slams into drunk driver who was speeding towards couple crossing road with baby in Arizona, saving their lives

The only thing that saved the family with the newborn in a stroller was 27-year-old Shannon Vivar's spur-of-the-moment action.
UPDATED FEB 27, 2020
(Source : Getty Images)
(Source : Getty Images)

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: A woman who crashed into the car of a suspected drunk driver and potentially saved the lives of a couple with a baby, said she did not plan on carrying out the heroic act but it was just destined to be. 

On October 14, Shannon Vivar, 27, was driving along with her 3-year-old child and mother, Shirley, was heading back home from Walmart, when Shirley screamed and pointed to a jeep, which had run a red light and was speeding toward a couple pushing their 11-month-old son in a stroller through a crosswalk.

"I yelled, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Shannon! And then we collided", Shirley later remembered, AZ Family reported. 

The only thing that saved the family with the newborn was Vivar's spur-of-the-moment action. She drove right into the Jeep, preventing it from hitting the pedestrians. "I don't quite remember if I sped up or pushed the brake", Vivar said in a news conference on October 24. "It was kind of like a quick thing."

On Wednesday, the Phoenix Police Department shared a traffic camera footage of the shocking crash, which documented how both the cars had missed the family by a few feet.

The authorities said Vivar entered the intersection at the exact same time and took the impact, which would have otherwise ended up harming the family on the crosswalk. 

While the couple and their infant were able to run away following the collision, Vivar sustained non-life threatening injuries and got her car damaged. Fortunately, the other passengers on the car, including her 3-year-old son, who was in the backseat, was left unhurt. 

"I was just happy that we were all alive and good", she said, while her mother said, "It's a blessing we were there. Wrong place at the wrong time, but then it's the right place at the right time."

The drunk driver was identified as 28-year-old Ernesto Otanez Oveso, who was arrested and faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of weapon by a prohibited person. 

"In this case, when you look at the video, it's nothing short of a miracle that the family the renegade was barreling towards didn't get struck. They could have suffered injuries that were certainly serious if not life-threatening", said Sgt. Tommy Thompson with Phoenix police. 

RELATED TOPICS PHOENIX NEWS ARIZONA NEWS
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