Jamie Foxx Saves Man from Burning Vehicle

On Monday night, Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx made a split-second decision that saved a man from being burned alive in the car he had crashed.

Around 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Brett Kyle. 32, was allegedly driving under the influence and speeding in his white 2007 Toyota Tacoma on Potrero Road east of Hidden Valley Road when he skidded off the rain-slicked road, hit a drainage pipe, and flipped over several times, as California Highway Patrol Officer Marco Marin told CBS Los Angeles.

Foxx, hearing a crash outside his home, called 911, then rushed outside to find the car burning and Kyle trapped inside.

Security footage from Foxx’s home showed several other cars passing the burning car without stopping. But an EMT driver, whom Foxx said was named “Christian,” did. ABC 7 reported that Foxx and the EMT broke the car window using EMT scissors, cut the seat belt and pulled Kyle out. TMZ added that Foxx told police he dragged Kyle abouut 30 feet away from the accident.

Foxx said, “I grabbed the scissors from him, cut the seatbelt. As we pulled him out, within five seconds later, the truck goes up (in flames)…I don’t look at it as heroic. I just look at it as, you know, you just had to do something. And it all worked out.” He added, “As I’m getting him out, I said you’ve got to help me get you out because I don’t want to have to leave you. I said you’ve got angels around you.”

On Tuesday, Kyle’s father Brad visited Foxx at his home to thank him. He told CBS Los Angeles:

I just kept watching it [security video] and going my God, my God, he didn’t have to do a thing. I think we all hope that we can do something when the time is there. But the question is do we act or do we fear our own lives, and he did not. He [Foxx] was here when he needed to be here. He was here for my son. And as far as I am concerned, he saved his life.

Foxx later posted an Instagram photo of him and Brad Kyle hugging, captioned, “This is all that matters. That a man, a son, a brother’s life was spared last night. God had his arms wrapped around all of us… No heroes… Just happy fathers.”

ABC 7 stated that Brett Kyle, who was later charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, broke his collarbone and punctured his lung in the accident.

Brad Kyle concluded of Foxx’s heroics, “It doesn’t matter to me who it was or what they do for a living. Just the idea that someone would do that is so much more than I could fathom. He’s got two sisters and a brother. They would have lost their brother if it wasn’t for him.”