An epic video captured the moment a fearless Michigan sheriff's deputy jumped out of a moving patrol vehicle and into a moving car to help an elderly motorist who had lost control behind the wheel.
Traffic footage captured Macomb County Sheriff's Deputy Nicole Miron hanging out of the passenger-side window of a police cruiser as she tried to get into the driver's-side window of the pickup truck that was driving erratically on the busy Mount Clemens Highway.
“I don't think it hit the side of the truck or anything,” Miron said. Fox2 News.
“I jumped out at full speed, put the vehicle in park and here we are.”
The incident occurred around 2:18 p.m. on Sept. 12 when deputies received reports of a silver GMC Sierra pickup truck driving erratically, according to a sheriff's department news release.
Deputies spotted the truck and activated their emergency lights and siren, but the 63-year-old driver failed to stop and continued traveling at about 5 p.m., appearing dazed and unable to understand requests, the sheriff's office said.
“He was unresponsive when we tried to stop him, lights, sirens, none of that,” Miron told the outlet. “When we got closer, you could see he was dazed, he was an older gentleman.”
Eventually, the truck driver rolled down his window and braked briefly before the heroic deputy, who was on the passenger side of the patrol vehicle, climbed out of the sheriff's pickup window and into the truck as the two vehicles continued moving.
Officer Anthony Gross, a trainee who has been on the job for two weeks, drove the patrol car while Miron looked after the driver. Gross said the elderly driver ran “a couple of red lights” but was focused on making sure “everything was going to be OK.”
“I was looking at the driver’s mirror and my passenger mirror and I tried to line it up that way,” Gross told the outlet. “Luckily, everyone else was scattering because we had our lights and sirens on.”
Miron managed to stop the vehicle once inside the truck. He then called a family member to confirm the driver's health, authorities said.
The driver was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham praised Miron for putting himself in danger not only to help the driver but also to protect other drivers on the road.
“Thanks to his quick reaction and selfless actions, he safely ended what could have been a tragic situation,” Wickersham said.
