Video captures Lake Charles Police saving woman from sinking car
LAKE CHARLES, La. (KLFY) – Four members of the Lake Charles Police Department enter a river to save a woman trapped inside a vehicle sinking into the water.
According to the Lake Charles Police Department, Cpl. James Gruspier was patrolling near the 400 block of River Road Tuesday night. Cpl. Gruspier found a small silver sedan that was partially submerged in the river with a woman trapped inside. Cpl. Gruspier notified dispatchers of this situation and swam to the submerged vehicle.
Cpl. Gruspier climbed onto the hood and made contact with the woman as the cabin of the vehicle began to fill with water. While Cpl. Gruspier was helping the woman get into the back seat, Sgt. Ryan Magee and Officer Brennan Hoover arrived on the scene.
A member of the LCPD’s Marine Division, Sgt. Magee quickly assessed options on how to rescue the woman while the vehicle was being swept into the current and drifting further from the shore. Sgt. Magee used a personal floatation device for him and Officer Hoover to reach the vehicle. Officer Caden Barrow would arrive a short time later and also swim out to the vehicle.
As officers made efforts to remove the woman, they learned she could not swim. As the woman began to panic, Sgt. Magee and Cpl. Gruspier grabbed the woman’s arms and removed her from the quickly sinking vehicle. Officers formed a circle around her and swam her to shore safely.
“I am very proud of these Officer’s actions. We never know what we are going to face or when. These Officers, without hesitation, jumped into the river to save a stranger, and had they not acted immediately, we would have lost someone. I know that they saved a life that day, Great Job Gentlemen,” says Lake Charles Police Department Chief Shawn Caldwell.