Police in Westland, Michigan saved a suspected DUI driver’s life after they pulled him from a burning Chevrolet Traverse crossover.
According to local Fox affiliate Fox 2 News, Westland Police received a call just before 1 a.m. on June 21st that someone was in an intersection doing donuts. When they responded, they found a dark-colored Chevrolet Traverse driving in reverse gear in circles with the side curtain airbags deployed. The driver continued to drive in circles until the vehicle came to a stop and caught fire.
At this point, police officers opened the passenger side door and instructed the driver to get out of the vehicle. Despite warnings that the vehicle was on fire, the driver refused to get out, telling officers “i’m good,” and interlocking his arms in the steering wheel. Police then attempted to forcefully remove him from the vehicle, but then noticed the suspect was reaching for a small razor blade knife. The officers eventually convinced the person to drop the weapon and were able to take them into custody without further incident.
The driver was charged with driving while under the influence and driving while on a suspended license. He was transported to a nearby hospital as a precaution before being released back into police custody.
Westland police Lt. Bob Wilkie commended the restraint his officer’s showed during the dangerous situation.
“Clearly these officers are not jumping to extremes. They are showing a great deal of compassion, they’re handling situations and saving people’s lives,” Wilkie told Fox. “We do go through de-escalating training; we have been doing that for a while here and these are some of the tactics that are shown in a very tense situation coming to use.”
The entire ordeal can be seen in the video embedded below.
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Comments
Thank goodness the police weren’t hurt, and they handled all in a fair manner.
There’s just no fix for stupid.
There’s a lot I don’t understand about this like what caused the vehicle to catch on fire. Mostly though, I wonder what happens in situations like this when the police are replaced by unarmed female social workers. Would they coax him out with words? I don’t know.
Just let the dog burn in the car…