GREENFIELD — A Greenfield Police Department patrolman is being called a hero after he saved a woman from certain peril following a two-car crash last week.
The crash — the aftermath of which was captured on police video that has been viewed thousands of times — happened around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Officer Blake Crull, a five-year GPD veteran, was on patrol when he came up on the accident in the 4200 block of East U.S. 40.
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One car was upside down and on fire; the other vehicle was nearby. Crull ran to the flaming wreck, looked around and called out. In moments, he discovered a badly injured woman was trapped inside as the flames started to grow.
Crull searched for a way to get her out of the car and finally pulled Heather L. Fischer, 36, Greenfield, to safety through a side window.
Moments after getting the victim out of the car, parts in the engine compartment began to explode.
“This woman may very well have died if not for the quick actions of Patrolman Crull,” Capt. Chuck McMichael said. Crull, through his supervisors at GPD, declined to be interviewed for this story.
The video — made with the new body cameras and dashboard units the city acquired this year — showed Crull arriving at the scene and working to assist the woman. Chief Jeff Rasche said the technology is proving its worth. Designed to ensure transparency, the cameras also document how difficult an officer’s job can be, Rasche said.
“The camera caught the officer’s perspective of a real-life, high-level stressful situation that a lot of people don’t realize we have to deal with,” Rasche said. “I watched it and it put chill bumps on my arm, and emotions flooded me because he put his life on the line.”
The videos, first posted Monday afternoon, can be viewed on the GPD Facebook page.
Officials met with members of Fischer’s family, who expressed their gratitude for Crull’s quick actions. GPD plans to hold a ceremony in a few months and award him a medal of valor for his actions above and beyond the call of duty.
“They are very prestigious awards; these are the kinds of awards people rarely receive,” Rasche said.
Fischer, a Triton Central High School graduate, was taken to Indiana University Methodist Hospital, where she was treated for a compound fracture of her ankle and other injuries. She posted on her Facebook page Sunday: “All I have to share for today, I’m Blessed and grateful to have my family! Luv you all!”
The driver of the second vehicle involved in the crash was identified as Arturo A. Casimiro, 46, Indianapolis. Casimiro, who officials said was intoxicated, was arrested and taken to the Hancock County Jail.
Casimiro has since been charged with a Level 4 felony count of causing serious bodily injury when operating a vehicle while intoxicated; a Level 6 felony count of operating a vehicle while intoxicated after a prior conviction within seven years, and a Class A misdemeanor of driving while suspended.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in support of the charges, officers immediately detected the odor of alcohol as they spoke with Casimiro. He initially told officers he had not been driving, but officers became suspicious: A woman in the car with him had a large knot on her head that was consistent with an injury a passenger would have suffered in the crash.
Casimiro then admitted he had been driving the car. Crull’s body camera also captured images when he first arrived at the scene indicating Casimiro was the driver, the affidavit said.
Casimiro appeared in Hancock County Circuit Court on Friday, Sept. 11, where a bond of $10,000 cash bond was set. He was still in jail at the Daily Reporter’s deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
Deputies from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department also assisted in covering the crash.
