GREENFIELD, Ind — Two Greenfield police officers pulled a teen from a fiery car crash over Fourth of July weekend. The rescue was caught on an officer’s dash cam and happened just minutes before the car was engulfed in flames.
“I believe today, if we weren’t there to respond on that, since we know where [Hancock County Deputies are] coming from, that could have been a fatality crash,” Greenfield Police Sgt. Justin Jackson said.
Officers say 19-year-old Jonathan Moncrief was traveling west bound on US-40 when he crossed a median causing his vehicle to go airborne. After landing, it caught fire. Dispatch only received one call about the crash.
“There were a couple houses around, but none of them heard the crash. If we didn’t have a witness that saw it, and called it in, it would have been too late before anyone noticed that car there,” said Sgt. Jackson.
Sgt. Jackson rushed to the scene, while separately Greenfield Patrolman Blake Crull also drove to the incident. Hancock County Deputy barb Miers arrived first, but her fire extinguisher did not stop the flames.
Patrolman Crull tried his extinguisher, but again, it did not impact the fire. He removed the driver’s side window, and began slashing the airbag with his knife in an attempt to pull Moncrief through the window. When that didn’t work, Miers, Crull, and a bystander began ripping off the door.
“About the time I met at the car, the door broke free, so I just immediately lunged toward the front seat, and grabbed a hold of [Moncrief]. Patrolman Crull came around the door, and grabbed the [teen]. We both pulled him from the car, drug him a decent amount from the vehicle to keep him from the flames. A minute and a half to two minutes that car was fully engulfed after him being out.”
Both Sgt. Jackson and Patrolman Crull have a history of pulling people from wrecks.
“I had one back in 2013, where I had a Mom and two daughters on a six-car pile up that caught fire on the interstate. I was able to extract the two daughters and mother from the vehicle,” said Sgt. Jackson, “Crull just actually received awards in 2020 for a similar accident. A rollover vehicle car fire.”
Patrolman Crull was awarded a Medal of Valor and a Lifesaving Award for his heroics in that crash on September of 2020. His body cam footage caught him pulling out 36-year-old Heather Fischer from her car. It was only moments later when the vehicle exploded.