Hero officer pulls 2 people from burning car in Spring Hill TN
SPRING HILL, Tenn. November 5 2019 A Spring Hill Police Officer is being hailed a hero tonight after pulling 2 suspects from a burning car.
It happened on a narrow stretch of Duplex road in Spring Hill early Saturday Morning. That’s where a teenage driver, suspected of DUI, ran off the road at a high rate of speed and hit a tree. The SUV flipped on its side then caught fire.
The officer who was in the pursuit, Brandon Frey, immediately called for help, then rushed toward the burning vehicle.
Lt. Justin Whitwell says, “it’s an extra gear that officers have.”
Just prior to the crash, Spring Hill Officer Brandon Frey encountered the SUV in a nearby subdivision. The vehicle was driving erratically.
The Toyota Forerunner, driven by Abrian Saucedo, took off when the officer hit the blue lights.
Dash cam shows the SUV speeding through the subdivision and running over curbs and yards.
At one point the 19 year old DUI suspect hit a small tree, then kept driving.
A few minutes later, the teen drives off Duplex road into the tree.
Dash cam shows Officer Frey sprinting toward the burning car.
You can hear him say, “start me fire. The car’s on fire.”
Body Cam shows the young officer breaking the windows and yelling to the occupants inside.
“Get out of the car,” he says to the female passenger.
The young woman is unsure and the officer implores her to crawl out of the window.
“Crawl,” the officer commands. “Is anyone else in there?,” he asks, as she gets to the ground.
“yeah, he is in here,” she responds, refering to Abrian Saucedo.
Then the officer commands Saucedo to exit. The 19 year old doesn’t realize the car is on fire.
“Crawl out man, the car’s on fire. Get out here,” he yells.
“is it?,” the 19 year old responds from the smoking car.
Frey gets both young people to safety as more and more police units arrive. That’s when the young officer says he is going back to check if anyone else is inside.
“Hey i’m checking to make sure nobody else is in the car. Is there anyone else in the car?”
You can see Frey pointing his flashlight at the smuldering car and shouting, “Anyone else in here?”
A few minutes later, Dash cam shows the car fully engulfed with flames shooting up the tree.
Then the car explodes.
Sitting in the back of the police car, you can hear the 19 year old talking to himself.
He is angry that his car is burning. He talks about his parents being upset. He even says that many of his friends have been to jail.
Saucedo says aloud, “how many days do i gotta spend in jail? 30,40 50 60?”
He also says he hopes that his friend is not arrested.
Lt. Justin Whitwell says the young officer ran into the unknown to help people he didn’t know.
“that is exactly right. The officer busts a window, he doesn’t how many people are in the car or what their state of mind is. But yet the only thing he is thinking is how to get these people out.”
The driver was taken to jail on a number of charges. The female passenger was not charged.
WKRN
