SIDNEY — A man who saved the occupant of a blazing car was honored with the Sidney Police Department’s lifesaving award Monday night.
Sidney City Council and the audience gave James Davis, of Sidney, a standing ovation as the award was presented near the beginning of the council meeting.
Police Chief Will Balling and Sgt. Sean Martin presented the award to Davis. Martin was the first police officer at the crash scene. He recommended Davis for the award and the award committee approved it.
Balling showed video from Martin’s police cruiser as it approached the accident scene on state Route 29 near Lehman Catholic High School the night of Aug. 2. The vehicle was engulfed in flames when he arrived.
Martin recounted what happened that night, saying police were dispatched to the area on a report someone was trapped in a burning car. “As we pulled up, I could see the front end of the car was on fire,” he said. “We immediately checked the car and learned there was nobody in the car.” Police learned from witnesses that the occupant, Loretta Holland, of Sidney, had already been removed from the vehicle by Davis.
Among the witnesses was Brett McConnell, who said the car was “popping and bursting” and he heard the occupant screaming. He tried to open the car doors, but couldn’t. That was when a man later identified as Davis was able to get the woman out of the other side of the car.
Martin talked to Davis, who said he was stuck in traffic because of the accident and got out to see what was happening. He heard a popping noise. “He saw a car on fire; he saw people standing around. He asked them if anybody was in the car; nobody really knew,” Martin said. Davis tried unsuccessfully to open the locked car door. “He could hear somebody in there. … The person inside said, ‘I’m going to die in here.’ … He was able to extract her through the passenger-side window.”
Davis can be seen in the police cruiser video escorting the the woman he had saved across the street.
“Thank you for your service. And thank you for making it happen that night,” Balling said in presenting the award to Davis.
