A Holbrook man's foot and sneaker caught fire early Sunday while he was partially out of his crashed Jeep, with his right foot pinned by a damaged dashboard. Three Holbrook police officers reached him within roughly a minute, prying him loose and dragging him to safety as flames spread across the front of the Jeep. One of the officers walked away with burned fingers.
The crash happened around 3:20 a.m. near 206 Pine St., according to news.jgpr.net, which reported that the Jeep left the roadway, struck a utility pole and a tree, and then slammed into a retaining wall. Officers responded to a report of a vehicle fire following the crash, and the outlet reported that the driver's right foot remained pinned beneath the wrecked dashboard as his foot and sneaker burned.
A Minute That Mattered
Sgt. Martin Faherty and Officers Jonathan O'Brien and Matthew Richards pulled the driver free within about a minute of arriving on scene, per the same report from news.jgpr.net. Firefighters then extinguished the remaining flames, treated the driver at the scene, and transported him to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth with injuries believed to be non-life-threatening, the outlet noted. O'Brien sustained minor burns to his fingers during the rescue, according to the same account.
The driver was identified only as a 37-year-old Holbrook man, as reported by WPRI, which also confirmed he was taken to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. According to Fall River Reporter, his identity was withheld by police because the court had not yet issued a criminal complaint against him.
Charges Still Taking Shape
Accounts of the driver's legal exposure vary slightly. News.jgpr.net reported that Holbrook police are seeking a summons against the driver for operating under the influence of liquor, second offense, among other violations, while NBC Boston reported that the driver is charged with several offenses, including drunk driving and speeding. Per MassLive, police are seeking a court summons on charges including OUI-alcohol, second offense, negligent operation, a marked-lanes violation, and speeding, and the crash remains under investigation.
Massachusetts law requires drivers to stay entirely within a single marked lane and to confirm it is safe before changing lanes, under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 89, Section 4A. A preliminary investigation determined the Jeep struck the utility pole, tree, and retaining wall, MassLive reported, and police said several nearby properties were damaged in the crash.
Second Rescue in a Year for One Officer
This marked the second time in the past year that O'Brien has pulled a driver from a burning vehicle, according to WCVB. MassLive reported that O'Brien was the first officer on scene, arriving after bystanders told him the driver was trapped, and that he captured the rescue on his body-worn camera before Richards and Faherty arrived moments later to help free the man.
Holbrook Police Chief David Del Papa praised the response, saying the officers did an incredible job under dangerous conditions and that their quick action likely saved the driver's life, according to MassLive's reporting. The crash remains under investigation, and police are seeking a summons against the driver.
