AUSTIN – The driver of a car that crashed on West Oakland Avenue this weekend was criminally charged Tuesday with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide or operation after allegedly fleeing the scene of the accident Saturday.

Along with the three felony charges, Michael Lee Rutledge, 30, faces one gross misdemeanor DWI charge. The charges allege he operated his vehicle with negligence and under the influence of alcohol.

The passenger of Rutledge’s vehicle, 34-year-old Amy Ellis of Waltham, had to be extracted from the car by firefighters. She was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin by ambulance with a broken leg, according to police Capt. Dave McKichan.

Although accounts of the accident differ, McKichan said Rutledge was reportedly driving a purple Monte Carlo from which Ellis was extracted. The vehicle was traveling west when it sped up behind a white Cadillac Seville and clipped it.

The collision caused the Monte Carlo to flip and slide more than 100 feet, landing in the westbound lane near Holiday Ford.

However, witnesses told the Herald on Saturday that the Monte Carlo collided with the Seville when the Seville turned left from 25th Street SW onto Oakland.

Vannessa Dang, 23, was riding in the passenger seat of the white Seville. Dang said she didn’t see the Monte Carlo before they turned, though she remembers looking both ways.

“It just happened all so fast,” she said on Saturday. “It’s the worst car accident I’ve ever been in.”

Dang’s boyfriend, Josh Wieseler, was driving, and Isaiah Wright, 24, was in the backseat. The three were on their way to fish.

Wieseler was given a breathalyzer after the crash and police determined he had no alcohol in his system.

Rutledge will appear in court today on his charges. His plea hearing has not been scheduled.