Rowlett officer speaks about actions that saved accused drunk driver
Rowlett officer speaks about dramatic rescue
A Rowlett police officer is speaking out about his effort to help save a suspected drunk driver who had just hit him.
ROWLETT - A Rowlett police officer is speaking out about his effort to help save a suspected drunk driver who had just hit him.
Officer Issac Gorskikh says his actions don't necessarily make him a hero.
What Happened:
The crash happened on the shoulder of Interstate 30 in Rowlett early Thursday.
Investigators say 33-year-old Lyn Alan Smith was under the influence and rammed into the back of Gorskikh’s patrol car, injuring him.
READ MORE: Rowlett officer rescues suspected drunk driver who crashed into his squad car
Video from another responding officer shows Rowlett Police Officer Issac Gorskikh shattering the window of a locked and burning car to rescue the unresponsive driver.
Rowlett officer pulls driver from burning car | RAW
Body camera video released by the Rowlett Police Department shows an officer pulling a suspected drunken driver from a burning car after that driver had just rammed his car. Both the officer and the driver were taken to the hospital with injuries.
Gorskikh then lifted the man over a concrete barrier to protect them from traffic flying by.
Police arrested the 33-year-old Smith and charged him with intoxication assault.
Gorskikh had previously been an officer with the Dallas Police Department.
He'd only been on patrol for Rowlett for about two months.
What they're saying:
"I just remember being struck, and I remember almost like there was dust in the air and I kind of immediately knew what had happened, but I was still kind of like I was thinking a thousand things at once," said Gorskikh.
He says the moment his cruiser was hit from behind, his instincts kicked in and he went to work.
The car's doors were locked and without hesitation he used his elbow to shatter the window and pull the disoriented driver out.
"At that moment, I was like, hey, we got to get this guy out of here and before another vehicle struck him or the fire got much bigger," he said.
Injured Rowlett officer rescues driver from burning car
Rowlett police say an injured officer saved a suspected drunk driver from a fiery car. That same officer was hit by that suspect moments before.
Officer Gorskikh is 28 years old, a former Army soldier, with a wife and new child.
He was also injured in the crash, but he kept going before eventually being taken to the hospital.
Gorskikh says he doesn't harbor any hard feelings.
"You can't take it personally. It's called an accident for a reason," he said. "I work with a lot of great people and a lot of heroic people who had done the same thing if they were in my shoes, and I don't think that I'm much better than them at all."
The Source: Information in this article comes from Rowlett police and an interview with Officer Issac Gorskikh.