On Saturday, September 19, 2020, at 6:43 p.m., officers working the Southeast Patrol Division saw a black cloud of smoke after answering a call near the 6900 block of Scyene Road. They went to investigate and saw that there was a major accident involving multiple vehicles. The accident involved six vehicles. Multiple callers called 911 and reported that one of the vehicles had caught fire and an individual was trapped inside the vehicle.

When Officer Jonathan Calder, his partner Officer Jonathan Martinez, and Officer Israel Banales arrived at the location, they jumped out of their patrol cars and ran towards the fire to assist community members with pulling the male from the vehicle. Officer Banales grabbed his fire extinguisher as he exited his squad car and used it to help keep the fire down. Patrol officers along with community members worked together to pull an adult male from the burning vehicle with just moments to spare.

The officers began smashing in the window with community members while the fire grew in the front of the car. Fighting the smoke and the heat, they didn’t give up. They were able to get the individual out of the car so that Dallas Fire Rescue could treat him and get him to the hospital.

The male who was pulled from the vehicle had major burns to his body and he was transported to a local hospital to be treated. The incident was caught on body-worn camera footage.

The officers safely pulled the man out of the burning car. “It’s my job. I know everybody I work with in law enforcement would have done the exact same thing that I did,” said Officer Calder. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

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