Officers witness crash, pull 3 people from burning car in Englewood
CHICAGO (STMW) - Chicago Police officers witnessed a crash and managed to pull three people from a burning car late Monday in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.
About 10:55 p.m., the Englewood District officers saw a Kia speeding westbound in the 700 block of West Garfield when the car lost control, struck a tree, a pole and then collided with a house, according to Chicago Police.
The officers rushed over to the vehicle and pulled the three males from the car just as it started to catch on fire, authorities said.
The three victims were taken to Stroger Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized, police said.
“It looked like something out of a movie but we called it out right away, got EMS rolling and assist units showed up and helped us out,” Officer Eric Wicencyjusz, who was one of the officers who witnessed the crash, told reporters at the scene. “Everyone did a great job.”
Officer Ivan Romo and his partner Officer Mike Bunyon, who assisted at the scene, said that when they pulled up, the car was smoking and shortly thereafter became engulfed in flames.
“We just did what we do. Second nature took over and we just got out of the car and started pulling people out,” Romo said.
“You see these poor guys trapped in the car and you just do what you gotta do and get them out,” Bunyon said. “Luckily we had seat belt cutters and all that stuff handy and we were able to get them out right away, the third guy we were able to pull out on the other side, everything panned out, hopefully they’re OK.”