A police pursuit in Robstown ended with two officers pulling an unconscious teenager from a burning vehicle after the car crashed and flipped multiple times.
Patrol Supervisor Danny Martinez and Officer Joshua Rodriguez rescued the 18-year-old driver after the reported stolen vehicle caught fire following the crash. Body- and dashboard-camera footage captured the officers breaking a window, cutting the driver’s seatbelt and pulling him from the vehicle.
The incident began when Robstown police officers spotted a reported stolen vehicle near the intersection of U.S. 77 and Texas 44.
Police said the driver ran a red light and fled, leading officers on a pursuit. The chase ended when the driver lost control at a T-intersection. The vehicle flipped multiple times before coming to rest and catching fire.
According to KIII-TV, the crash happened at about 1:15 a.m, with the 18-year-old unconscious inside the vehicle as the fire spread. Reports said he had also been involved in an earlier pursuit with Texas state troopers in Corpus Christi.
Officers Move Toward the Fire
Martinez and Rodriguez immediately went to the wreck but the vehicle’s doors were locked and the windows were up. As the fire grew, the officers broke a window to reach the driver and cut through his seatbelt before pulling him from the vehicle.
Chief Mike Tamez said the officers were facing an extremely dangerous and unpredictable situation as they worked to get the teenager out.
“These two officers ran toward danger,” Tamez said on KIII TV, adding that they risked their own lives to make sure the driver could make it out alive.
The footage shows how quickly the situation changed from a pursuit to a rescue, with the officers working against the spreading fire to reach the driver.
A Rescue Beyond the Pursuit
The officers’ actions drew attention online, where one Facebook commenter described the rescue as “heroic” and an example of valor.
The commenter noted that the teenager was the person Martinez and Rodriguez had been pursuing, but said that did not change the need to help him once he was trapped in the burning vehicle.
“This could have been one of your loved ones,” the commenter wrote, also pointing out that the two officers had families and loved ones of their own.
The Robstown Police Department also praised the officers, describing their actions as an example of selfless service. The department said Martinez and Rodriguez put their own safety at risk to help a stranger.
Tamez said he later spoke with both officers, who did not ask for special recognition and said they were simply doing their jobs.
Teenager Treated for Broken Back
The 18-year-old was taken to a hospital after the rescue, as KRIS 6 reported that he was being treated for a broken back.
The driver is also expected to face charges related to the Robstown incident and the earlier pursuit involving Texas state troopers, according to Tamez.
For Martinez and Rodriguez, the pursuit ended with an arrest no longer being the immediate concern. Instead, they had seconds to get an unconscious teenager out of a vehicle that was filling with flames.
The teenager survived the crash, while the officers’ actions became the defining moment of an otherwise dangerous pursuit.