# Las Vegas Officer Entered Burning Car in Rescue



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*FRANCIS McCABE*
_Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada)_









REVIEW-JOURNAL
Lt. Randy Sutton was waiting for the car to explode.
Flames engulfed the engine of the 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix, and thick black smoke filled the interior.
Sutton, a 20-year veteran with the Metropolitan Police Department, with the help of officer Jason Motl had pulled one teen from the wreckage, but there was another one in the burning, mangled mess of a wreck.
Sutton, who has written books about his police experiences, tells the story of the teens' rescue with pride.
As he used CPR to restore the heartbeat of one teen, Sutton said, Motl and Sgt. David Winslow ran back to the car - and Winslow actually climbed into the vehicle - to rescue the other teen.
"You can't hesitate," Sutton said of the early Wednesday incident. "You can't make moral judgments when life is at stake."
Sutton had finished taking a break with Winslow only minutes before. It was about 3:55 a.m.
They parted ways in the restaurant's parking lot.
"He went right," Winslow said. "I took a left."
Sutton was in his patrol car when he saw the Grand Prix on Buffalo Drive near Cheyenne Avenue. The Pontiac was heading north, but it was in the southbound lane, Sutton said.
Sutton believes the driver saw him and made a U-turn to correct the traffic violation.
THE CHASE BEGINS
The lieutenant started to follow the car.
"I didn't know what I was dealing with," Sutton said.
The driver of the Pontiac hit the gas. Flying through stop signs and intersections, the car raced away, Sutton said. 
Sutton could not keep up with it as he stopped at intersections to avoid oncoming traffic.
The Pontiac turned north on Soaring Gulls Drive, a twisting and turning road in the northwest valley lined with walls separating main thoroughfares from the gated communities.
Sutton eventually caught up to see the Pontiac crashed into a wall.
The driver had tried to make a left onto Cimarron Road, judging by the skid marks, Sutton said.
The driver bolted from the car - "leaving his buddies to burn," Sutton said. The lieutenant began to give chase when he heard a muffled popping sound, he said.
It was enough to grab his attention.
Flames started shooting out of the engine. Sutton turned back and caught a glimpse of someone in the car.
He gave up his pursuit of the driver and ran to the car. 
Smoke filled the inside of the Pontiac, and Sutton said it was hard to breathe.
By this time Motl, who was on patrol nearby, had arrived at the scene and saw Sutton trying to pull the passenger from the car. Flames etched higher into the sky as the officers reached into the car to free the passenger's leg.
THE RESCUE
They finally succeeded and got him away from the fire. He wasn't breathing.
"I started compressions, and his heartbeat came back just like that," Sutton said.
With Sutton working on the teen, Motl grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.
That's when he saw shoes in the car. Realizing there were legs attached to the shoes, he yelled that there was another person in the car.
Winslow had just arrived, "and like an old stupid warhorse," he ran toward the flames, the 56-year-old said.
"I'm looking at him. I'm looking at the flames," Winslow said, when he heard the teenager gurgling.
The teen had an arm wrapped around the steering wheel, a leg under a crushed seat, and his body squashed between the passenger and driver seat.
Winslow climbed into the car, among the twisted metal and acrid smoke, to untangle the limbs.
Motl, 26, a five-year veteran, was in the thick of it, helping Winslow free the teen from the car, the sergeant said.
Soon paramedics - one of whom was a nearby resident - and firefighters were on the scene. 
BACK ON THE JOB
The three Las Vegas police officers got away with nicks and bruises and smoke inhalation.
They were back on the job the next night.
"None of us got hurt," Winslow said. "Not compared to the kids. You go by great training and the grace of God."
The two rescued teens, 16 and 17 years old, were taken to University Medical Center. They remained in critical condition Thursday.
The third, a 16-year-old boy, showed up at UMC later and was treated for his injuries.
Police said he was the driver of the Pontiac. They did not release the teens' names.
Detective Dennis McGill of the police department's fatal traffic detail said the car had been reported stolen from an apartment complex near Rancho and Vegas drives about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The teens had driven the car to a girl's house but couldn't get into the gated community, McGill said.
They then made the wrong-way turn that caught Sutton's eye, he said.
No arrests have been made so far, but the investigation is ongoing.
"I hope, if these kids survive, they take this experience and it changes their life," Sutton said. "If they survive, it was a gift from whatever spiritual entity there is. And if it wasn't for these two cops (Winslow and Motl), they would be dead right now."
Sutton said he plans to nominate Winslow and Motl for the police department's Medal of Valor, or life-saving award.

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## jsc06 (Apr 5, 2006)

Sutton must be one of the most recognized cops in America, I've seen him a couple of times on cops, and read of the books he put together.


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