Officer Dean Soucie said that bystander Ryan Mendes helped him rescue the 78-year-old from the driver’s seat
Credit: Easton, Massachusetts Police Department
NEED TO KNOW
- A three-vehicle crash, involving a 1993 Mack dump truck, a 2013 Ford F-350 and a 2024 Toyota Camry, occurred in Easton, Mass, around 2:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 27
- The F-350 and Camry both burst into flames, leaving the Camry driver, a 78-year-old man, trapped inside
- He was safely rescued from the burning car by Officer Dean Soucie and two bystanders
A 78-year-old man was rescued from a burning car by two men and a police officer on Friday, Feb. 27, in Easton, Mass.
Patrol Officer Dean Soucie was alerted to a three-vehicle crash on Route 138 around 2:30 a.m., the Easton Police Department (EPD) said in a news release. The crash involved a 1993 Mack dump truck, a 2013 Ford F-350 and a 2024 Toyota Camry.
The truck was immobile on the side of the southbound lane and the Ford F-350 crashed into the truck’s rear. That driver, the sole occupant of the vehicle, was then stuck in the car. Then, the Toyota Camry crashed into the Ford’s rear, immediately going up into flames.
Two bystanders, Ryan Mendes and his brother, took immediate action and removed gasoline cans from the pickup truck’s bed before Soucie arrived.
“They initially got out of their vehicle. One of them grabbed a fire extinguisher, attempted to put out the flames,” Soucie told Boston 25. “There was a five-gallon gasoline tank in the back of the pickup truck to which they grabbed and removed it before I was even on scene.”
Upon arrival, Soucie witnessed the two cars “engulfed in flames,” per the EPD. Then, the brothers alerted him to the presence of a 78-year-old man in the Toyota Camry.
Soucie ran to the car and asked the man, “Hey, can we get you out, sir?” as seen in body camera footage. The two men and Soucie broke the driver's side window and safely removed the man from the vehicle.
Credit: Easton, Massachusetts Police Department
The elderly man sustained serious injuries and was transported to the local hospital. The other victim, the driver of the Toyota, safely exited the car and did not sustain any injuries.
Soucie told Boston 25 that Mendes “helped [him] free the individual from the driver’s seat.” Meanwhile, Mendes told the outlet that he and his brother “were just doing what anybody would naturally do.”
Easton Police Chief Keith Boone told Boston 25 that “there’s no question that he saved his life last night,” adding, “I think he’s a hero. He won’t let me say that.”
Authorities closed down Route 138 for several hours to conduct the on-scene investigation. Easton Police Detective and Patrol Divisions are investigating the crash.
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PEOPLE reached out to the Easton Police Department for comment.
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