Dramatic bodycam footage captured during a potentially life-threatening incident last week shows a Washington police officer risking his safety to pull an unconscious man from a fiery vehicle.
Last Monday, the incredible rescue unfolded in a Rite Aid parking lot in Kennewick, Washington, with police alleging the man inside the car was suspected of overdosing, hitting his vehicle into a trailer, and was in need of rescue.
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It was lucky that Cpl. JP Benitez was driving by when the officer noticed flames coming from an SUV. Benitez pulled over and quickly realized the man stuck inside needed assistance.
“As I got closer to the car, I noticed there was a figure in the front seat,” the officer told KEPR-TV. “That’s when you feel shock, and you’re thinking, ‘What in the world, there’s still someone in the vehicle.'”
Though the flames came dangerously close, Benitez was able to get the man out of the vehicle with the assistance of another good Samaritan who saw the struggle and came to help.
Watch the rescue:
“I saw him struggling, so I went to go help. That’s when I jumped in and grabbed him by the shoulders, and he grabbed him by the feet,” Juan Martinez, a passerby, said of the incident. “We just pulled him out because we thought the car was going to explode. We were just trying to get him as far away from the accident.”
Luckily, the duo saved the victim before flames totally took over and a potential explosion unfolded.
Benitez said he was grateful for the help and that he and other police officers can’t do their job without the community behind them.
According to the Kennewick Police Department, the man in the car was given medical aid on the scene and then taken to the hospital. He was later booked into Benton County Jail and “placed in custody for suspicion of DUI and two counts of reckless endangerment.”
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