Connecticut Police Save Driver Trapped In Burning Car

WILTON, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- A Connecticut man is lucky to be alive after police managed to pull him to safety from a burning car last week.

Authorities say the vehicle was traveling eastbound the night before Thanksgiving when, for some reason, it crossed the double center lines before crashing down an embankment on the westbound side of the road.

Wilton police Sgt. Arnault Baker was the third officer to arrive on scene. He tells CBS2's Valerie Castro that he immediately realized the rescue wouldn't be easy.

"The front driver and passenger doors had been damaged from the crash and the vehicle was actually wedged between two trees," said Baker.

After responding officers decided to open the back hatch on the sport-utility vehicle, Baker jumped into the back seat and began to pull the driver to extricate him out of the car.

The incident was caught on the dash camera of one of the police vehicles that responded to the scene. With the driver safely out, you can see the car fully engulfed in flames.

The Wilton Fire Department assisted police in putting out the blaze.

Arlene Rosenthal lives near the scene of the crash. She tells CBS2 that she looked out her front door with her phone in hand, knowing that somebody had just gone into the woods. At that point, she says she saw the car burst into flames.

"It was the most frightening thing I've ever seen because I knew someone was in that car," said Rosenthal.

According to police, the 26-year-old driver of the vehicle managed to escape with only minor injuries.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.