OFFICERS RESCUE DRIVER FROM BURNING CAR
Two South Brunswick Police Officers are being credited with saving the life of a man who was trapped in his burning vehicle after a serious motor vehicle crash on Sunday, November 9, 2025. At 2:45 a.m., Officers Thomas Sites and Yash Shroff were dispatched to Route 27 near Andover Road for a motor vehicle crash. The crash was in Franklin Township, but the two South Brunswick officers were the closest officers. The officers arrived within minutes and discovered the 26-year-old male driver unconscious in the driver’s seat. The man was unresponsive, the vehicle's doors were locked, and smoke was pouring out of the front of the vehicle. Officer Shroff attempted to break the window with his baton without success. Officer Sites retrieved his “breaching tool” from his patrol car as flames began to show from the front of the vehicle. Officer Sites smashed the rear passenger's window, hoping to unlock the door. He then smashed the driver’s side window, reached through the broken glass, and unlocked the door. As Officer Sites opened the driver’s door, flames approached his feet from the undercarriage of the car. Officer Sites and Officer Shroff pulled the driver out of the car. Within seconds of pulling the driver out, flames consumed the front of the car. The officers dragged the heavily injured driver further away from the vehicle to safety. Within minutes, the entire car was fully engulfed in flames.
“I have watched the video, and it is the definition of heroic. 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 could free the driver. It is the split-second actions of these officers that this 26-year-old is alive today,” said South Brunswick Police Chief Raymond Hayducka.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital transported the driver to the hospital. He continues to recover in the hospital and is listed in stable condition.
Little Rocky Hill, Griggstown, and Rocky Hill Fire Departments extinguished the fire.
The Franklin Township Police Department is handling the investigation into the crash.
Video link -
https://youtu.be/MBHFM1NiL3A?feature=shared
