Allan Appel Photo
Wojtek Wacowski Photo
A cop chasing an apparent runaway driver survived a telephone pole crashing onto his cruiser early Wednesday morning — then rushed out to save the fleeing driver just before the driver’s car burst into flames.
The dramatic rescue — and a related fire that displaced two people from a Front Street building — took place just after 1 a.m. in Fair Haven. Police Chief Dean Esserman commended the officer for “remarkable heroism” in saving lives.
Here’s what happened, according to Lt. Rob Criscuolo of the police department’s accident reconstruction team:
Officer Criscuolo, who plays on the police hockey team.
The incident began when Officer Mike Criscuolo (no relation to Rob Criscuolo) sought to stop the driver of a 1991 Oldsmobile as he ran through a red light on Blatchley Avenue.
The driver sped away. A chase was on.
The driver tore along Front Street through the intersection of Grand Avenue.
Then he lost control. His car skidded on its side. It hit a telephone pole and came to rest on the passenger side. It landed next to a building at 185 Grand Ave.
Then the pole, which had two transformers, landed on top of Criscuolo’s car. It crashed right through the windshield — and just missed him.
Criscuolo dashed out of the car. He hopped a picket fence to get at the driver’s car. The Oldsmobile’s driver’s door was in the air. Criscuolo ran to the passenger door, opened it, crawled in.
The car was smoking. A fire was starting.
Criscuolo undid the driver’s seat belt. He dragged the driver out. Then he kicked part of the fence down and dragged him to safety.
The car then erupted in flames.
Then the building caught on fire, too.
The driver and officer went to the hospital. Neither of them suffered life-threatening injuries. The officer was subsequently released. It turned out the driver, who is 52 and from North Branford, had an outstanding state police warrant on larceny charges, according to Lt. Criscuolo. He also had no driver’s license. His car was a burnt-out shell. It belonged to a “relative,” according to police.
“We’re fortunate,” said Chief Esserman, who was at the scene of the crash Wednesday. “If the pole had been three feet in another direction, or there had been a second officer in the passenger seat [of the cruiser], we could well have lost an officer early this morning.
“The officer showed remarkable heroism in rushing to that car, getting down on the ground under the car to get the passenger door open, unbuckling the driver, and rescuing him from the car, which then went up in fire.”
“They should make a movie out of what he did,” Lt. Criscuolo said of Officer Criscuolo, who was sworn in as a cop in December 2012.
Firefighters got the call at 1:06 a.m. A crew arriving from the Lombard Street firehouse arrived five minutes later to encounter a “massive fireball,” said Supervisor of Fire Investigations Todd Kornacki. Firefighters had the blaze under control at 1:57 a.m.
“It’s a bit of a miracle no one was killed,” mayoral Chief of Staff Tomas Reyes said later Wednesday morning at the scene, which police had taped off.
Hundreds of people living in the immediate area were still without power as of 9 a.m.
Allan Appel Photo
Wacowski and Bekhrad at the scene this morning.
The building that caught fire, at 185 Front St., is owned by neighborhood developer Fereshteh Bekhrad, who was on the scene. She said the building is not fully insured. She also said a city building official told her the building is no longer inhabitable. “I’m going to do an investigation to see what’s lost,” she said.
Two people live in the building. Both escaped the fire.
Wojtek Wacowski is one of them. He also works for Bekhrad. He said the crash woke him up; he grabbed a bag with some clothes, including a pair of sneakers, and his laptop. His cat died in the fire, he said.
“I was standing on the roof when the firemen arrived,” Wacowski said. “They did nothing at first because they were afraid of the power lines. They let the car burn. I had an extinguisher and started to use it. But they wouldn’t let me.”
Read other installments in the Independent’s “Cop of the Week” series:
• Shafiq Abdussabur
• Craig Alston & Billy White Jr.
• James Baker
• Lloyd Barrett
• Manmeet Bhagtana (Colon)
• Paul Bicki
• Paul Bicki (2)
• Sheree Biros
• Bitang
• Scott Branfuhr
• Dennis Burgh
• Anthony Campbell
• Rob Clark & Joe Roberts
• Sydney Collier
• Carlos Conceicao
• Carlos Conceicao (2)
• Carlos Conceicao and Josh Kyle
• David Coppola
• Roy Davis
• Joe Dease
• Milton DeJesus
• Milton DeJesus (2)
• Brian Donnelly
• Anthony Duff
• Robert DuPont
• Jeremie Elliott and Scott Shumway
• Jeremie Elliott (2)
• Jose Escobar Sr.
• Bertram Ettienne
• Bertram Ettienne (2)
• Martin Feliciano & Lou DeCrescenzo
• Paul Finch
• Jeffrey Fletcher
• Renee Forte
• Marco Francia
• Michael Fumiatti
• William Gargone
• William Gargone & Mike Torre
• Derek Gartner
• Derek Gartner & Ryan Macuirzynski
• Tom Glynn & Matt Williams
• Jon Haddad & Daniela Rodriguez
• Michael Haines & Brendan Borer
• Michael Haines & Brendan Borer (2)
• Dan Hartnett
• Ray Hassett
• Robert Hayden
• Robin Higgins
• Ronnell Higgins
• William Hurley & Eddie Morrone
• Racheal Inconiglios
• Juan Ingles
• Paul Kenney
• Hilda Kilpatrick
• Herb Johnson
• John Kaczor & Alex Morgillo
• Jillian Knox
• Peter Krause
• Peter Krause (2)
• Amanda Leyda
• Rob Levy
• Anthony Maio
• Dana Martin
• Steve McMorris
• Juan Monzon
• Chris Perrone
• Ron Perry
• Joe Pettola
• Diego Quintero and Elvin Rivera
• Ryan Przybylski
• Stephanie Redding
• Tony Reyes
• David Rivera
• Luis & David Rivera
• Luis Rivera (2)
• Salvador Rodriguez
• Salvador Rodriguez (2)
• Brett Runlett
• David Runlett
• Betsy Segui & Manmeet Colon
• Allen Smith
• Marcus Tavares
• Martin Tchakirides
• David Totino
• Stephan Torquati
• Gene Trotman Jr.
• Kelly Turner
• Lars Vallin (& Xander)
• Dave Vega & Rafael Ramirez
• Earl Reed
• John Velleca
• Manuella Vensel
• Holly Wasilewski
• Holly Wasilewski (2)
• Alan Wenk
• Stephanija VanWilgen
• Elizabeth White & Allyn Wright
• Matt Williams
• Michael Wuchek
• Michael Wuchek (2)
• David Zannelli
• Cailtin Zerella
• Caitlin Zerella, Derek Huelsman, David Diaz, Derek Werner, Nicholas Katz, and Paul Mandel
• David Zaweski