A minor accident in the parking lot of a southwest Atlanta gas station turned dire Sunday evening when one car caught on fire and its driver began having a seizure.
Atlanta police officers responding to the accident quickly determined they needed to get the driver out fast, or they might lose him. In body camera footage released Monday, a team of officers can be seen working together to break into the smoking vehicle and pull the man to safety.
The first officers to arrive at the Shell station on the corner of Campbellton and County Line roads radioed for help just before 5 p.m.
“I got somebody having a seizure and the car is on fire,” one officer is heard yelling over the police radio.
As a backup officer arrives, the video shows her jumping out of her patrol car and running toward the smoking two-door muscle car, where several other officers were already working to put out the flames with a handheld fire extinguisher.
They each grabbed a baton and began beating on the front passenger window to get to the man inside. Once the glass was cleared, they realized they could not get the driver’s-side door open. The video shows one officer jump into the smoking car to heave the driver out from the other side.
“Pull him out! Get him out, Sarge!” an officer can be heard yelling on the video.
The driver, whose name was not released, was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital along with several of the officers who worked on the man. All had minor injuries, according to police.
“It was just another day’s hard work,” Sgt. Dekonti Davis said during a news conference Monday. “Even in this really emotionally charged climate involving law enforcement, we didn’t think … we just had to save a life.”
The other officers involved were identified by APD as A. Ruffin, M. Bouquette, S.Verrelien and J. Sutton Jr.
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