A Westford, Mass. police sergeant pulled an injured man from the path of a rolling truck following a crash Tuesday morning.
Sgt. Marc Proia responded to a report that a recycling truck struck a telephone poll on Robinson Road at around 9:20 a.m. when he saw the driver laying in the road in front of the vehicle, according to The Lowell Sun.
As the officer went over to ask the man if he was all right, a neighbor started screaming, "The truck is rolling! The truck is rolling!" Proia said that at that point the truck's tires were only a few feet away from the driver and without thinking, grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him to safety.
"If it had been a second later, it would have been too late," he told the newspaper. "That tire was awfully close."
Although the man was safe, the truck continued to roll in the path of Proia's patrol car. He tried to move it, but it was too late. The truck crashed into the vehicle at about 10 mph, causing only minor damage to the cruiser.
"I just did what I had to do," the 18-year veteran of the department said. "It happened in a split second, instantaneously."
The driver of the recycling truck was transported by MedFlight helicopter to Boston Medical Center for urgent care. The severity of his injuries is unknown at this time.
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.
