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Officer rescues man trapped in car
News
November 30, 2024
Officer rescues man trapped in car

Officers with the Phoenix Police Department were acknowledged after rescuing a man who had been trapped in his car after driving it into a swimming pool.

Officer Anthony Lara was only a couple of blocks away from the apartment complex when several 911 calls came in from bystanders reporting a man had driven his car into the pool.

Lara arrived to find the car fully submerged under six feet of water.

He used a pry bar to smash through the car’s sunroof, and then he dragged the man out.

“There’s really no training for something like this,” Lara said. “You just have to take in account what you have, the information that was provided to you, and just use common sense.”

The rescue was caught on several officers’ body-cams and posted on X. “As soon as I lifted him, you could hear him take that big gasp of air,” Lara said. “Just based off of that, I think he was running out of time. I think 30 seconds more, and God forbid it would have been something totally different.”

According to reports, the man said he hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and drove into the deep end.

“He was still kind of in shock when I was talking to him,” said Officer Mark Borbon. “So, I don’t know if the accelerator got stuck, which led him to go into the pool, but yeah, it was kind of like a freakish accident that happened.”

Sgt. Michael Guadagnino said he was very proud of Officer Lara for his courageous actions.

“Tony here, had no problem putting his life on the line, because entering water with a vehicle, it could shift, he could fall in,” Guadagnino said. “There’s many things that could happen, and disregarding his own safety, he decided to put that citizen’s life ahead of his, which is an amazing achievement.”

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