Watch now: St. Bernard Catholic Church in Middleton cleans up after driver smashes into building

Oct. 5--MIDDLETON -- Stained glass windows were shattered, bricks and debris covered the floor and pews of the sanctuary, and an alleged drunken driver was in the hospital after ramming a vehicle into St. Bernard Catholic Church early Monday.

Middleton police say the crash at the church, located at the corner of Parmenter Street and University Avenue near the city's downtown, occurred at about 1 a.m. The driver, whose name has not been released, has been cited for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and for having open intoxicants.

The driver was taken to a Madison hospital by ambulance, which was stationed just a block from the scene, said Sgt. Dave Haselow of the Middleton Police Department.

The crash caused damage to the southwest corner of the church but the driver came within inches of striking the brick base of the steeple. A brick wall that shields a garden was damaged as was a side door to the church and several stained-glass windows.

Rev. Brian Wilk said he was told by police that the vehicle was traveling east on University Avenue, crossed the centerline and went through a vacant lot that had been the former home of a PDQ convenience store. The vehicle then took out a traffic light and crossed Parmenter Street before hitting the corner of the garden wall and slamming into the side of the church, leaving some parts of the car, including a Volkswagen emblem, in the sanctuary.

"You work hard to keep the place looking good and so on, and someone does this," said Wilk, in his sixth year serving the congregation of about 1,600 families. "It is frustrating."

Wilk said he planned to meet with the church's insurance company on Monday but did not have a dollar estimate on damage.

Had the crash happened during a mass, which recently resumed after being shut down by COVID-19, Wilk said, it could have injured parishioners. Shards of glass covered pews and the floor near the back of the sanctuary, while a few bricks came to rest on some of the pews.

"The biggest thing is the stained glass windows," Wilk said, as he inspected the damage. "That's a significant project for us to replace. They were just gorgeous."

The incident, according to Wilk, was captured on the church's video surveillance system and was being turned over to Middleton police.

From 1889 to 1940, St. Bernard was a mission parish of St. Peter Catholic Church in Ashton before getting its first resident pastor in 1940, according the church's website.

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[Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Rev. Brian Wilk.]

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