A man was pulled out of a vehicle that had burst into flames by a police officer who sprung into action. Footage from the officer’s bodycam and dashcam shows a white car pulled to the side of the road in what was meant to be an ordinary traffic stop. But when it started to catch on fire, the cop acted fast and rescued the driver before the fire reached him.
Cop rescues man as car catches on fire
On the evening of June 7, Corporal Joshua Switcher was conducting a traffic stop on westbound SH 114 when he received an alert that a vehicle with heavy smoke coming from it was approaching his location, according to a report by My Southlake News.
After locating the vehicle, the officer directed the driver to pull over to the shoulder. Within seconds, the car caught on fire and quickly spread as heavy black smoke filled the vehicle, as seen in a video posted by Southlake DPS on its official Facebook page.
Switcher sprinted out to save the man from the raging fire.
“Get out of the car!” the officer yelled. “Get out, get out, get out, get out!”
Switcher tried to pull on the door handle but it broke into pieces. He then told the driver to open the door from his side, but he wasn’t able to do so, as the smoke billowed out from the car.
“I couldn’t see inside the vehicle,” Switcher told ABC News, “because of the amount of smoke that was pouring out.”
Fortunately, the window was halfway down, so the officer did some quick thinking and said he would save the man by pulling him out. After putting on a glove, he smashed the window and firmly held the driver’s hand as he yanked him out of the vehicle in the nick of time.
“When the window shattered, that was a little bit of relief for me. ‘Cause I knew i had knew I had an exit point at that time,” he said.
Swisher helped the man to safety as vehicles from the fire department arrived on the scene.
For his rescue, the officer was awarded the department’s Meritorious Conduct Award. “This recognition honors more than a courageous act,” Police Chief Ashleigh Casey said. “Corporal Swisher’s selfless actions reflect the character, training, and commitment our officers bring to every shift, every day to protect and serve the Southlake community.”
