Chicago Police Officers Credited With Saving Boy From Burning Car; 'We Just Did What Our Job Entitled Us To Do: Serve And Protect'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two Chicago police officers were hailed as heroes on Thursday, credited with saving a child from a burning car last week.
Officers Ramon Curet and Raul Sandoval were working the night shift in the 15th District last Friday, when they got a call for a crash in the Austin neighborhood.
Police said a Range Rover was heading west on Washington Boulevard around 3:10 a.m. on Friday when it struck a Toyota sedan that was headed north on Cicero Avenue.
The Toyota flipped onto its roof, and caught fire.
Two adults and three children –ages 10, 11, and 12 – were inside. Everyone was able to get out, except for one boy who was stuck in the backseat.
Officers Curet and Sandoval arrived a short time later.
"There's people around the car, saying that there's someone still inside," Sandoval said.
Curet said Sandoval went into the car to cut the child's seatbelt and get him out of the burning wreck.
"It was very nerve-wracking, but we were able to calm ourselves down and just help," he said.
"We just did what our job entitled us to do: serve and protect," Sandoval said.
Thanks to the officers' help, the boy and everyone else inside the burning car suffered only minor injuries.
Police said both officers were nominated for the department's life-saving award.
