Long Beach Police Officer Crashes Head-On Into Runaway Car To Save Others
LONG BEACH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Beach police officer says he was just doing his job when he stopped an erratic driver on Sunday night by putting himself in the path of a runaway car.
As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, while on patrol on Long Beach's busy West Park Avenue, Officer Brian Eidens saw something alarming.
"I looked in my rear view mirror and saw a car going over the fireman's memorial on the center median," Eidens said.
And the Nissan Altima showed no signs of stopping, so the officer made the split second decision to speed up and head off the runaway car as it made its way toward oncoming traffic.
"To stop the vehicle from possibly rolling into houses or incoming traffic or pedestrians in the area," he explained.
The unconscious driver stopped only as he slammed head-on into the police cruiser, Gusoff reported.
The Long Beach police commissioner called Eidens' move selfless and brave.
"We don't specifically train to putting ourselves in harm's way, but it does come with the territory," said Commissioner Michael Tangney. "The greater good is what we all respond to and in this case that's exactly what Officer Eidens did."
The driver -- 37-year-old single father Frank Kelly -- had suffered a seizure behind the wheel. He spoke with CBS2 over the phone from his hospital bed.
"Thank God he was in the right place at the right time," he said. "It could have been a lot worse."
"I was just happy I was there to do my job," Eidens said.
The damaged police cruiser is one of many that was donated by out of state police departments after the City of Long Beach lost its entire fleet in Superstorm Sandy.
Police said Kelly was driving with a suspended license. Kelly told CBS2 he would not have been driving had he been aware of the suspension.