By Police1 Staff
WASHINGTON — Five police officers were approaching the end of their shifts when a chance encounter resulted in the rescue of a driver trapped inside a burning vehicle.
Officer Steven Hines told NBC4 Washington he happened upon the car, which had crashed into a utility pole, Sunday night and ran toward the flames.
“I tried to look in it, but there was too much smoke. I couldn’t really see inside the vehicle,” Hines told the news station.
Hines called it in and other officers rushed to provide backup.
Two of those officers, Jacoby Taylor and Roberto Adams, pulled the driver out while the others searched for any remaining passengers stuck inside.
“Our minds were pretty much on going home. Another couple of minutes, if we hadn’t been there, if Hines hadn’t stumbled across it, it’d be a completely different story,” Officer John Hayes told NBC4.
Luckily, no one else was inside the vehicle. The driver was transported to a local hospital where he was treated and released.