An off-duty Florida cop sprung into action after he witnessed an SUV hit a driveway and go airborne before it crashed into a ditch.
Ponce Inlet Police Officer Rich Gardner was on State Road 415 in New Smyrna when he witnessed the white SUV go across the road, hitting a driveway, sending the vehicle airborne. The airborne vehicle hit a few trees before it crash-landed into a ditch.
It was at that moment Gardner and another man ran to the SUV to save the two victims trapped inside, Fox 35 Orlando reported.
“There was a female inside that was at the closest point to the door, and she was in some pain, she said she had back pain. I just asked her to grab my arm, so I could pull her out. We got her out first and then the driver ended up jumping out on his own,” Gardner said.
The officer stayed with both victims until a nurse began tending to them. Gardner said it looked like both people would survive the crash.
“It’s almost surreal to see something like that,” Gardner added, “You don’t expect to see something like that in your normal course of the day.”
The Ponce Inlet Police Department did not comment on Gardner’s actions because he was off-duty at the time but said it was aware of the incident.
It is unclear how the SUV went off the road or if the police department would be investigating the incident further.