These people are heroes.
In all the talk about the dangers of police pursuits and the results of not engaging in them, everyone seems to forget that cops can die or get seriously injured. Most law enforcement and their close loved ones are keenly aware of the dangers, although they have their own ways of coping with them. But when a worst-case scenario unfolded recently as Michigan State Police pursued a suspect in Muskegon, it was two bystanders who stepped up and became heroes.
Learn how a man purchased a stolen car from a dealership.
As they told local news station WXMI, Michael Bohland and Faith Kik were on their way to look at a camper van in Muskegon when they got turned around. However, they proved to be in the right place to save the lives of two Michigan State troopers who had just started pursuing suspects in a Ford Explorer.
Troopers pursued the SUV after it had reportedly been stolen and was involved in a previous police chase. In a split second, the incident transformed from a pursuit into a catastrophic wreck. You can see in the video someone’s surveillance camera picked up the Explorer rolling sideways through a front yard. But the troopers’ vehicle was in much worse shape.
Bohland and Kik saw smoke coming from the police cruiser and without even thinking jumped into action. Pulling one trooper out of the wreckage, they went to get the other out. You can see the mangled remains which is only identifiable thanks to the roof light.
The second trooper was trapped in the wreckage, his foot caught on something so the Good Samaritans couldn’t pull him out easily. Instead of giving up, Bohland went to the other side of the car, smashed the window, slid into the cabin, and freed the trooper’s foot.
There’s no telling what would’ve happened had these two not been right there on the scene. It’s possible we’d be covering the deaths of two MSP troopers who were pursuing a stolen Ford Explorer. Instead, Bohland and Kik flew into action, getting both away from the rapidly spreading fire. They told a reporter they didn’t even fully process what happened until they got home. We’d like to think anyone would do what they did and we hope they would.
