Saving a drunken driver from a burning car crash was literally all in a day’s work for one Ozone Park resident.
Fuel truck driver Alex Mitchell, 37, was on his shift when he stopped to rescue an allegedly intoxicated John Boisseau, who slammed his car into a tree near Exit 55 on the Long Island Expressway around 2 a.m. on Friday, October 19, police said.
And following the crash, the good Samaritan got back in his truck and continued his 12-hour shift.
“I didn’t think of my safety,” Mitchell said. “It just happened so fast.”
Mitchell was heading to Holtsville in Suffolk County when he noticed the car in front of him started swerving in and out of lanes.
He thought the driver was either drunk or sleepy so he tried to keep his distance, but suddenly the Chevrolet Blazer drove off the road and smashed into a tree.
Mitchell stopped his truck, dialed 9-1-1, and ran towards the SUV because he feared it would explode since it caught on fire.
“Regardless of whether he was intoxicated… he is still a person and he was in need of help,” Mitchell said. At first Mitchell couldn’t find Boisseau and thought he had been hurled out the vehicle, but then he heard something coming from under the car.
“I’m screaming ‘Hello is everybody alright,’” Mitchell said. “It was dark, smoke everywhere and then he said ‘I’m here, I’m here.’”
Boisseau’s leg was stuck under the car, but Mitchell pulled him out with one hand while he was on the phone with 9-1-1.
Shortly after, the car was engulfed in flames, which were later extinguished by the East Brentwood Fire Department. Boisseau was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and charged with driving while intoxicated by Suffolk County Police.
Mitchell, who was in the United States Air Force from 1998-2002, called his boss to explain there was an accident and he would be late, but said nothing of his heroism.
“I’m proud. It feels good to do something for somebody,” Mitchell said. “But the best feeling is my friends and family expressing how proud they are.”
RECOMMENDED STORIES
