A police officer has been dubbed a hero after pulling a truck driver from his wrecked rig in Michigan early on Friday morning.
The accident happened on October 15th at around 1:44 a.m. in Oakland County, Michigan.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputy, Miguel Mendez, was performing routine business checks along the M-24 corridor when a motorist pulled up next to him and reported that they had heard a large vehicle crash somewhere in the area. Deputy Mendez then began to search the area and soon discovered that a semi truck had crashed into a building at 605 S. Lapeer Rd.
Mendez did not see a driver anywhere so he entered the unstable building to search for them. Thankfully, he was able to locate the truck driver, a 40-year-old unnamed man, inside of the cab and pulled him to safety.
The sheriff described the driver as “incoherent,” but luckily the man had sustained only non-life-threatening injuries. He was soon transported to a nearby hospital.
“The building was structurally unsound due to the crash and gave the appearance that it could collapse at any minute, but Deputy Mendez went inside anyway to check on the driver and render assistance,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Lenz.
“Tending to the driver was his top priority. He put himself in harm’s way to achieve that goal. I’m proud of him. We all are. We will be requesting that Deputy Mendez receive a commendation for bravery from the sheriff’s office.”
Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash. The incident is still under investigation.