Police Cadets Lift Up Patrol Car, Free Officer Pinned By RV At Special Olympics Torch Run

MERIDIAN TWP. (WWJ) -  Officials are crediting a group of police cadets with possibly saving a life after they literally picked up a vehicle and freed an officer who was pinned by an RV during a torch run for the Special Olympics.

The accident happened around 1:20 a.m. Friday along Grand River Avenue, in the parking lot near Hobby Lobby in Meridian Township.

"Two of our patrol officers were helping escort the contingent of runners with the torch through the city," East Lansing Police Lt. Scott Wriggelsworth told WWJ's Beth Fisher. "They had done that and were in a parking lot after the run was over, and they were basically just standing around shooting the breeze with each other. Some of these runners had run over five miles, so they were just kind of cooling down, talking to each other."

An RV associated with the event wanted to leave the parking lot, but the officer's patrol car was somehow in the way.

"The officer decided to go over to his patrol car and move it and as he was doing that, the RV began to move," said Wriggelsworth. "In conjunction with the RV moving and the officer walking over to his patrol car to move it, he was struck and pinned between the RV and his patrol car."

The driver of the RV realized what happened and immediately hit the brakes. "It sounds like the RV stopped just in time," said Wriggelsworth.

Several cadets from the Lansing Community College police academy who were nearby saw what had happened and rushed over to help with brute strength.

"They actually, as I understand it, went over to the patrol car, several of them, and actually lifted the patrol car up and moved the patrol car over enough to get our officer un-pinned," said Wriggelsworth.

The officer was taken to Sparrow Hospital for treatment but was not admitted. Luckily, he didn't have any broken bones or internal injuries and was released after a quick exam. He's expected to make a full recovery.

"He's home resting with his family and it sounds like he's going to be sore for a significant period of time but, by the grace of God, he was able to get un-pinned and doesn't have any major injuries as we can tell," said Wriggelsworth.

The officer was identified as a 34-year-old who is a nine-year veteran of East Lansing Police Department. His name was not released.

The 750-mile Law Enforcement Torch Run is an annual event in which law enforcement officers run across the state to raise money for the Special Olympics. It starts in Copper Harbor at the tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and ends in Sterling Heights in metro Detroit. It started Saturday, September 12 and ends on Friday, September 18.