EASTON, Mass. — An Easton police officer and two bystanders who jumped into action are being hailed as hours after saving an elderly man from a fiery crash early Friday morning.
Officer Dean Soucie responded to Turnpike Street around 2:15 Friday morning. He found two bystanders jumping into action as two vehicles went up in flames.
Police said Friday afternoon this stemmed from a three-vehicle crash moments before.
Body-cam footage worn by Officer Soucie shows himself and the bystanders breaking the windows of the car, budging the 78-year old Raynham man in the driver of the pickup truck free, and carrying him to safety as the fire burned.
Just hours later, Officer Soucie told us he’d never ran into a situation like that before.
He credited Ryan Mendes and his brother, two Brockton men, for jumping into action.
“He helped me free the individual from the driver’s seat,” Soucie said.
Mendes told Boston 25 that he and his brother were driving back home to Brockton Friday morning when they saw those cars go up into flames.
Soucie said they immediately acted, and removed gasoline cans from the back of the burning pickup truck.
Soucie explained, “They initially got out of their vehicle. One of them grabbed a fire extinguisher, attempted to put out the flames... There was a five-gallon gasoline tank in the back of the pickup truck to which they grabbed and removed it before I was even on scene.”
Mendes told Boston 25, “We were just doing what anybody would naturally do.”
The 78-year old driver was rushed to Boston Medical Center in Brockton where he was treated for serious injuries. Police say those injuries are non-life threatening.
The crash remains under investigation.
Easton’s police chief Keith Boone added, “There’s no question that he saved his life last night.”
He finished with a laugh, “I think he’s a hero. He won’t let me say that.”
The road remained closed for several hours after Friday morning’s crash.
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