Crime & Safety

Teen Falls Out of Moving Party Bus Onto I-35W—Lives to Tweet About It

Katie Brown, 19, fell from a moving party bus window onto I-35W, but escaped unharmed and ready to tweet her experience.

A celebration on the "Flirting Flamingo" party bus took a harrowing turn when one of the passengers fell from an emergency exit window and landed in traffic on I-35W.

Katie Brown, 19, fell onto Northbound 35W in Burnsville after opening an emergency exit window. Brown was one of 35 recent high school graduates partying on the bus during a going-away bash for a college-bound friend. 

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According to authorities, Brown is lucky to be alive.

"Typically, when you find out somebody's along the side of the road, you think somebody has been hit by a car," Burnsville Police Captain Eric Gieseke told FOX 9 News. "It's shocking she wasn't hurt more seriously." 

Find out what's happening in Burnsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

None of the party-goers phoned the police after Brown hit the pavement, however. According to FOX 9 News, the Burnsville PD received numerous calls from other drivers reporting a body on the side of the road, but none came from anyone on the bus. Apparently, Brown's friends were more concerned about avoiding underage drinking charges. After 20 minutes had gone by, someone finally told the bus driver, who immediately pulled off the road and called 911. The driver told FOX 9 that some of the kids ran back to help Brown, but most fled the scene. 

"You hope people would apply common sense," Gieseke said. "You hope they'd be looking out for the victim and not themselves."

Brown was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. At last count, she was listed in satisfactory condition. In spite of the scare, Brown's sense of humor came out of ordeal unscathed. 

"I'm not sure what I'm more upset about..my belly button ring gone or my ruined outfit I bought yesterday. My friends would understand lol," Brown tweeted on Aug. 14.


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