Chula Vista police release video showing rescue of man from burning car on I-5
CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Chula Vista police released bodycam and drone video on Tuesday showing the moment officers rescued a man from his burning vehicle after it crashed into bushes along Interstate 5 back in October.
The crash occurred just before 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13 in between the Palomar Street and L Street exit.
According to CVPD, a sedan ran off the shoulder of the road, for undisclosed reasons, rolling down a small hill where it erupted in flames. The driver, identified as a man, was the only person inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.
The edited video released on Tuesday at the direction of CVPD Chief Roxana Kennedy begins with multiple 9-1-1 calls from witnesses on the I-5 reporting the car fire alongside footage captured by CVPD’s Drone as First Responder (DFR) pilot.
Watch the video of the rescue (WARNING: graphic images)
“Apparently on (Interstate) 5 at J Street, I just heard a big crash and there’s smoke over here,” one witness told a 9-1-1 dispatcher, which was added to the video. “I can see smoke. It looks like they ran off (the side).”
According to the department, these kinds of reports are typically routed to California Highway Patrol, but the calls received regarding this incident caught the attention of a CVPD patrol sergeant who was listening for those in need of real-time help.
Believing a person’s life was at risk, the video said the sergeant requested to have CVPD units respond to the reports immediately through a “CODE 3.” The drone was dispatched shortly after to pinpoint the vehicle’s exact location.
Body camera footage then shows the responding CVPD officers arriving at 11:13 p.m.
The first officer, who was not named in the released video, moved to the rear end of the car to smash in the back window as the flames appeared to emanate from the front.
In the bodycam video, the trapped driver can be heard yelling in pain from the inside as the officer works to create a space for him to be pulled through. The officer can be heard yelling “Give me your hand,” and “Come on, you’re doing good,” to the driver as he reaches his hand through to the driver.
As the first officer is working to rescue the driver, other officers spray the flames with a fire extinguisher, while another moves to assist at the back at the car.
Around 11:17 p.m., the driver was successfully pulled out of the vehicle. Four officers can be seen in the third segment of bodycam footage, lifting the driver over the trunk to drag him away from the burning sedan.
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“You’re going to be ok, Fire’s coming,” one officer can be heard telling the driver as they pulled him to safety along the shoulder of I-5. Seconds later, the flames appear to fully engulf the rear end of the car.
The rescue took a total of about four minutes, police said. The driver, who fell into a weeks-long coma after the incident, was then transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Three of the four officers involved in the rescue also sustained non-life threatening injuries and were treated by medical personnel, according to CVPD.
After he awoke, the driver expressed gratitude to the officers. In a release Tuesday, the driver, who was not named, said “I feel like a got a second chance. I’m so appreciative that they were able to get there in time and do what they did. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t be here today.”
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