Video shows heroic efforts by police, citizen to save teen’s life in fiery Highland car crash

HIGHLAND — An unnamed family is planning a journey of recovery this week instead of a funeral for their teenage boy, thanks to the heroic efforts of a good Samaritan, and the Lone Peak and American Fork police departments.

The family gave a written statement of thanks to the officers involved in the rescue to be read during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The incident occurred around midnight on Aug. 8, when Officer Austin Williams with the Lone Peak Police Department said he started to track down a vehicle and found it had hit a tree.

Williams went on to explain that the crash looked so severe that he was certain it was fatal until he heard cries for help.

In the dashcam footage, the car is seen crunched into a tree and exploding into flames shortly after the officer arrives. The video shows the officer getting out of his car and cautiously approaching the vehicle before springing into action upon realizing the driver is alive.

“It’s something you see in movies, but you never see it in real life,” Williams said.

He said he immediately broke the driver’s side window to allow oxygen to flow and tried pulling open the door, as seen in the dashcam footage.

However, the vehicle’s door was stuck in the crash, forcing the officer to wait for backup to arrive before further action could be taken.

Williams became emotional as he explained those moments of helplessness.

“When he was screaming and looking at me, yelling at me to help him,” he said, “and I just had to watch a fellow human being in that much pain and suffering, wishing I could do something, and him looking to me as the person who could save him, and I couldn’t.”

Luckily, it didn’t take long for backup to arrive.

Officers from Lone Peak and American Fork showed up with fire extinguishers to help continue life-saving efforts.

A 21-year-old man said he ran barefoot to the scene of the crash, about 50 yards away, to also ask how he could help.

The man assisted by running back and forth to his home, where he filled up buckets of water and dumped them onto the fire until the fire department got there.

The 17-year-old was pinned inside the vehicle and unable to escape. Once on scene, Officer Zach Goodale with American Fork police saw an opportunity to get him out.

“I saw a little crack in the doorframe that looked like I’d be able to get a tow rope in there,” Goodale said, “so I figured why waste time?”

The car door popped right off, allowing the teen to be freed.

Good Samaritan Landon Waldvogel, 21, said he saw the crash through the window of his girlfriend’s home and ran barefoot to the scene.

“I just threw emotions aside and tried to help him as much as I could,” Waldvogel said.

Waldvogel said he ran back and forth to the home, about 50 yards, seven times to fill up a bucket of water and douse the teen and vehicle.

“Obviously, if I was in that position I’d want as much help as I can get,” he said.

Multiple other officers from both departments responded to the scene to help out and save the teenager’s life.

“Because of their part, I didn’t have to watch this young man burn and die,” Williams said.

It took the officers a total of 5 minutes and 15 seconds between the discovery of the crash to the rescue of the teen from the vehicle.

Police said he is expected to make a full recovery, with only a broken nose and second-degree burns to mainly the back part of his body.