SOUTHLAKE, Texas (TNND) \u2014 A Texas police officer is being recognized for a dramatic rescue after pulling a driver from a burning car just moments before the vehicle became engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n
Dashcam and body camera footage released by the Southlake Police Department <\/a>shows Cpl. Joshua Swisher sprinting toward a smoke-filled Nissan Altima on June 7 while conducting an unrelated traffic stop along westbound Highway 114 in Southlake, Texas.<\/p>\n Police said Swisher was alerted over his radio to a vehicle pouring heavy smoke as it approached his location. He directed the driver to pull onto the shoulder, but flames quickly intensified after the car came to a stop.<\/p>\n Body camera video shows Swisher repeatedly yelling, “Get out! Get out!” before rushing to the driver’s door. When the exterior door handle snapped off in his hand, preventing him from opening it, he grabbed a window-breaking tool, shattered the driver’s side window and pulled the trapped motorist to safety. Seconds later, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n “I could not even see inside the vehicle,” Swisher told KDFW<\/a>. “The only thing I saw was hands, and it was the driver trying to get his door open from the inside.”<\/p>\n The driver was not seriously injured, according to police. Swisher suffered only minor burns to his arm during the rescue.<\/p>\n The Southlake Police Department later presented Swisher with its Meritorious Conduct Award, the department’s second-highest honor.<\/p>\n