DETROIT -- Two men are in critical condition after being hit by an alleged drunken driver while trying to help a turtle off the road.

Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said deputies found the 53-year-old and 60-year-old victims on Jefferson Road in Harrison Township at about 1 a.m Friday.

Hackel said the men were found near their Dodge pickup truck that had a boat trailer attached to it.

"They were possibly in the roadway trying to get some type of a turtle, a large snapper turtle, out of the road," Hackel said.

Hackel said 43-year-old Derek James Redmond and 48-year-old Melissa Ann Ulecki were pulled over a short time later on Crocker Street near First Street in Mount Clemens after a deputy noticed that the Dodge Avenger they were driving had damage to it.

A deputy said they both admitted to hitting the men.

Hackel said Redmond's blood alcohol level was .17.

He was charged with operating while intoxicated causing serious injury, driving on a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident and possessing marijuana.

Ulecki, who is the car's owner was charged with allowing a person under the influence to drive.

Both were arraigned in 41-B District Court in Clinton Township.

Redmond's bond was set at $50,000. Ulecki's was set at $7,500.

One of the victims, Fredrick Jasmund, is a retired Mount Clemens fire captain.

"That's what he did his whole life -- help people," said fellow Mount Clemens Fire Department Captain Gregg Shipman. "So yeah, that wouldn't be beyond belief that he would do that."