“She was dazed,” said Borgstrom. “She was completely out of it. She was in the Tahoe suffocating,”
Pasadena, TX – July 26, 2022 – It was about 2:30am as Deputy K. Lemelle sat parked on the shoulder of the Pasadena Parkway when a trucked veered from the road and slammed into the rear of her police SUV. Flames erupted instantaneously as the Deputy sat helpless and trapped inside. But help was there in seconds as the fist of an unlikely angel arrived pounding on the glass.
Richard Borgstrom, who according to Houston Chronicle Reporter Jhair Romero, works for a Pasadena, Texas repossession company, happened to be driving down the beltway with his windows down when he heard the BOOM of impact. “As soon as the boom, you saw the fire and flames,” Borgstrom said.
Pulling over, Borgstrom leapt from his truck and ran to the scene of the accident.
“She was dazed,” said Borgstrom. “She was completely out of it. She was in the Tahoe suffocating,”
“I banged on the window, and then all of a sudden, I see a hand coming out from the smoke where they had the airbag, the side airbag. Her hand came out from around it, and I noticed her bright fingernails,” Borgstrom said.
“I punched the glass with my fist, couldn’t break it, ran back to my tow truck, grabbed a trailer hitch, ran back out there, and I smashed the window out with the trailer hitch.”
After breaking the window, Borgstrom, said the smoke made breathing difficult but still managed to pull the deputy out of the burning SUV by her vest to safety. Two people from the work truck involved in the accident also helped pull her out.
No sooner had Deputy Lemelle been pulled to safety when their concern turned to the ammunition in her fire engulfed SUV.
“The bullets started going off,” Borgstrom said. “We were ducking behind cars.”
Lemelle, a three-year deputy who is assigned to the night shift on a patrol division, was taken to Southeast Memorial Hospital where she received ten staples to a cut on her head and three stitches on her chin. She was released on Tuesday and is now at home resting.
The driver and a passenger from the utility truck had minor injuries.
Precinct 8 Constable Phil Sandlin praised Borgstrom for rescuing Lemelle just moments before the flames reached her cabin.
“His actions undoubtedly saved Deputy Lemelle’s life,” he said in a statement. “This is yet another example of a tow truck operator who stepped up to render assistance to one of my deputies when needed and for that, I am grateful.”
Editors Note: This story was widely reported as it being a tow truck operator and only one instance of it being a repossessor was found.
Source: Houston Chronicle
Repo Man rescues Deputy from burning patrol car – Houston Chronicle – Repossession
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