Officers are being recognized for their bravery Friday after saving the life of a man who was trapped inside a burning vehicle.
Miami-Dade police officers and Florida Highway Patrol trooper rescued a man from a burning car on the Palmetto Expressway around 1 a.m.
Officers Yovani Sosa, Joseph Vallejos, Gepsy Perez and Edward Brochu responded to the call on the 826 and Bird Road Thursday Morning, and wasted no time trying to get 21-year-old Luis Alamo out of the car.
"I got the extinguisher from FHP, because they had an extra one that we used, and I ran up to the fire to try and put it out," said officer Edward Brochu.
While Officer Brochu tried to put out the flames, the other three men in uniform tried to get the man out of the burning car. Since the car was badly damaged after flipping over, getting Alamo out proved to be a challenge.
"We tried to pry open the driver side door, and that wasn't happening, so after that we pried the rear passenger side door, we opened that up," said officer Gepsy Perez. "Once we opened the car it was a lot of debris in the vehicle."
Officers worked to clear the debris from the vehicle.
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"At that point it exposed an opening for us to retrieve the gentleman, and from then we just grabbed one of his limbs and we tried to drag him out as quick as possible," Perez said.
That's exactly what they did, and seconds later the car erupted in flames. The driver is recovering in the hospital, and the officers heroic efforts have been put on notice by Miami Dade.
"At the end of the day we don't do this job for the credit. We do it to protect and serve.," said officer Yovani Sosa. "I know it's a cliche, but at the end of the day it's what we do for our community."
