Greenfield officer pulls woman from burning vehicle; other driver arrested for OWI
GREENFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — A police officer in Greenfield pulled a woman from a burning vehicle just moments before parts of the engine began to explode. Police say the other driver involved in the crash was under the influence.
The Greenfield Police Department has released body camera footage of Patrolman Blake Crull pulling the woman from the vehicle in the early morning hours of September 9 in the 4200 block of East U.S. 40 in the construction zone outside the new Hancock County Jail which is under construction.
Crull arrived on scene to find an inverted vehicle that was on fire. A 36-year-old Greenfield woman was inside and badly injured.
Crull pulled the woman out of the the vehicle just before parts of the engine began to explode.
The woman was taken to a hospital and officers describe her injuries as serious.
Greenfield Chief Jeff Rasche said Crull declined to be interviewed because he didn’t want any more of the spotlight.
“God was certainly watching that morning and I believe that,” Rasche said. “I think Blake was put in this situation to help her and he just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
It all happened in the front yard of Gail Locker. Locker’s husband heard the crash, looked out the front window to see the fire, then woke Gail.
“”It was pretty scary because it was so close to the house. I told my husband Russ, if that dude blows, it’s going to take off the front of the house if it doesn’t take all the house,” Gail said. “Thank God it didn’t.”
Rasche said the female driver is still in the hospital with major broken bones and a long road to recovery, but she has a good prognosis.
46-year-old Arturo Casimiro of Indianapolis has been charged in the crash. He faces preliminary charges of operating while intoxicated resulting in serious bodily injury, operating while intoxicated with a prior conviction and driving while suspended with a prior conviction within ten years.
