South Brunswick Officers Thomas Sites and Officer Yash Shroff pulled an unresponsive driver from his vehicle moments before it erupted in flames.

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

Two New Jersey police officers are being credited with saving a man’s life after pulling him from a burning vehicle following a crash (scroll for video).

South Brunswick Officers Thomas Sites and Officer Yash Shroff were sent to Route 27 near Andover Road in Franklin Township at 2:45 a.m. for a serious crash involving a vehicle that had gone off the road. The crash in Franklin Township, but the two South Brunswick officers were the closest units.

The officers arrived within minutes and found a 26-year-old driver unconscious in the front seat, police said. The man was unresponsive, the doors were locked, and smoke was pouring from the front of the vehicle.

Officer Shroff tried to break the window with his baton “without success,” police said. As flames began showing from under the hood, Officer Sites grabbed a “breaching tool” from his patrol car.

Officer Sites smashed the rear passenger window in an attempt to unlock the door, police said. He then broke the driver’s side window, reached through the glass and unlocked the door. As he opened it, flames were already “at Officer Sites' feet,” officials said.

Sites and Shroff pulled the driver from the car. Within seconds, flames consumed the front of the vehicle. The officers then dragged the severely injured man farther away to safety. Minutes later, the entire car was fully engulfed.

The whole ordeal was captured on dashcam footage.

South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka praised the officers' actions.

“I have watched the video and it is the definition of heroic,” Hayducka said. “The driver is severely injured, trapped, and his car is on fire. The fire was quickly spreading and appeared to be almost at Officer Sites' feet when they are able to free the driver. It is the split-second actions of these officers that this 26-year-old is alive today.”