As it turns out, Kenosha Sheriff’s deputy Russ Preston wasn’t wearing Batman briefs.

But that didn’t stop the crime-fighting crusader, who was only wearing boxer-brief underwear at the time, from nabbing a drunken driver in his Racine neighborhood Thursday night.

Preston, who works third shift, was getting ready for work at about 8:45 p.m. when he hear a loud crash outside his home in the 4300 block of Washington Avenue and ran out to investigate.

“He’s in my front yard and starts to drive away, and I didn’t think he was going to wait for me to put on my pants,” said Preston, 29, who became a deputy in June. “I didn’t know if he hit my house or one of my cars, but I’m just glad I caught him or there might be a lot of people asking why I was running through my neighborhood in my underwear.”

The driver, Gilberto Figueroa-Popoca, 31, of Racine, drove his 1995 Chevrolet C1500 pickup truck onto the sidewalk, knocked over a light pole and tore up sod and landscaping in Preston’s yard before driving away.

“I ran a few blocks but I couldn’t keep up,” Preston said.

That’s when Dick Hansen, the president of Johnson Bank who saw the incident while driving by, turned around and told Preston to jump in.

“When I saw him running down the street in his underwear, I didn’t know he was a deputy. I just figured he was a homeowner who didn’t appreciate the guy crashing into his lawn,” Hansen said. “The truck wasn’t going fast, but was faster than the officer could run.”

The two followed the truck another six blocks before it stopped at Figuero-Popoca’s home at 1400 Oregon St.

“I just wished I had a video dash camera to catch all of it,” Hansen laughed. “He jumped out of my car and had the guy’s hands behind his back. He seemed to be acting very officer-like. I called the Racine police and told them, ‘There’s someone here in his underwear who claims to be an officer.’”

Preston said Figuero-Popoca was glassy-eyed and had trouble standing.

“When I told him what he did, he just said, ‘Oh, sorry,’” Preston said. “I don’t think this was his first time. He already told me he had been deported once and he had a fake ID.”

Racine police arrested Figueroa-Popoca for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

Hansen, meanwhile, took Preston back home to get his clothes.

“His wife was very nice,” Hansen reflected, “and it was priceless the lovingly way she looked at her husband as he stood there in his underwear and dirty socks.”

Despite the unexpected bust, Preston still got to work on time.