A Mesquite police officer is being recognized for his quick thinking after dash and body cameras captured the heart-stopping moments he pulled a woman from a burning car.
Officer Tyler Ingram knew he only had seconds to respond. It was just after midnight on September 30. He’d been watching traffic along I-30 when he noticed a commotion.
There had been a single-vehicle crash, and the driver was still inside.
“As I got closer, I could hear a female screaming inside,” Ingram said.
The woman was injured and clearly in distress. Officer Ingram says her leg also appeared to be pinned.
“When I was at the driver’s door, the flames were starting to crawl from the front to the passenger compartment,” he said. “I tried to pull her up. It took me a minute to find the door handle. It was bent so I just bent it open a little bit more and was able to pull her out.”
Other officers arrived at the scene and carried the woman a safe distance from the car. Officer Ingram then applied a tourniquet to her leg.
“We answer a lot of action-packed calls here, but this was more like a movie scene,” he said.
Still, Ingram said it’s what he signed up for each day he wears the uniform.
Police said the woman was charged with driving while intoxicated. She is expected to be ok.