Trucker Pulls Man From Burning Car on the Long Island Expressway
A trucker is being hailed as a hero this weekend when he made a split-second decision to help a man out of his burning sport-utility vehicle. The car caught fire after the driver veered off the road and crashed into a tree on the Long Island Expressway. Thankfully both men walked away with no major injuries.
The trucker, Alex Mitchell, 37, was driving his fuel truck on the Expressway at 2 a.m. Friday around Brentwood when he first noticed the firey crash. Inside the burning vehicle near exit 55 was John Boisseau, 37, of Sound Beach. Mitchell immediately pulled his truck over, ran over to the man traveling eastbound on the Long Island Expressway in his Chevy Trailblazer, and dialed 911.
“He was waving his hand like ‘I’m here, I’m here!’” Mitchell said in an interview with CBS. “So I grabbed him and his left foot was stuck under the running board of the vehicle. So I gave him a little tug and his leg came loose.”
Mitchell also talked about taking that extra step to save another person during a potentially life threatening situation such as the one he found himself in.
“I always felt that if someone’s in distress you should always if possible do your best to help out,” he told CBS.
Mitchell pulled Boisseau from his Chevy before it was too late and the vehicle became engulfed in flames. After being treated at Southside Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, police discovered Boisseau was drunk. He has been charged with Driving While Intoxicated.
[Source: CBS]