The driver of a car that crashed on West Oakland Avenue Saturday pleaded not guilty to allegations that he was drunk and fled the scene.

Michael Lee Rutledge, 30, entered the not guilty pleas in Mower County District Court on Wednesday. He faces three counts of criminal vehicular operation and one gross misdemeanor DWI charge.

The passenger of Rutledge’s vehicle, 34-year-old Amy Ellis of Waltham, had to be extracted from the Chevrolet Monte Carlo by firefighters. She was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin by ambulance with a broken leg, according to a court complaint.

According to court documents, the driver of the Cadillac Seville told police Rutledge sped up behind him so quickly he thought the Monte

Carlo was going to crash into the rear of his car. Josh Wieseler, the driver, told police he tried to swerve to the right to avoid a collision, but Rutledge clipped the rear of his car.

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

Police learned at the scene that the driver of the Monte Carlo had fled on foot. Witnesses reportedly tried to contact Rutledge’s brother to get Rutledge to return to the scene, but his brother said Rutledge had told him the car had been stolen, according to court documents.

According to the court complaint, Lt. John Mueller of the Austin Police Department learned that Rutledge had put $20 of gas into his Monte Carlo around 8:10 a.m. on Saturday, just minutes before the accident took place. Mueller spoke with a clerk at Apollo Superette who said a “drunk guy” had put $20 of gas into his car and charged it on his credit card. After paying at the pump, he reportedly paid cash inside the store. The clerk said she assumed he was drunk because he smelled of alcohol and didn’t seem to understand his gas purchase was already paid for.

According to the court complaint, the man never pumped the $20 of gas that he paid for in cash.

The store manager told Mueller the clerk had described the man as “drunk as hell” and “smashed.”

When Rutledge turned himself in to police on Monday, he declined to be interviewed. He was accompanied by a lawyer when he turned himself in.

According to court documents, Rutledge had his license revoked in 2010 for driving with an alcohol content of .08 or more.

Wieseler, the driver of the Cadillac, was given a breathalyzer at the scene and did not have any alcohol in his system.

Rutledge is scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial on Jan. 20, 2012.