Red-light runners usually floor the gas pedal in an attempt to make it through the intersection in time. But, when police officers noticed a driver run a traffic light at comically slow speeds, they didn’t know what to think. Either the driver was drunk, hopped up on drugs, or there was a really short kid behind the wheel. An unlikely fourth option probably never occurred to them!
Just when the officers were about to «chase» after the slow-moving law breaker, their routine traffic stop took off in a strange new direction. Ask any cop, and they’ll tell you that they’ve seen a lot of odd things happen in the line of duty. But, this one really takes the cake!
The entire moment happened in a blink of an eye, and the policemen were completely taken by surprise. An officer was expecting a normal day on the job when he witnessed a man jump into the car in front of his vehicle. His dash camera caught the entire thing and the reason he did what he did is frightening.
Officers Lincoln Sharp and Patrick Ginn were making the usual rounds in their patrol car in Dixon, Illinois when they spotted a sedan run a red light at about 10 mph. Before they could turn on their sirens and flashing lights, they could see another driver further up the road park his pickup truck at an angle. He was attempting to block the wayward driver’s not-so-fast escape!
But, seconds later, the stranger jumped out of his truck, sprinted across the pavement and dove headfirst through the car’s open passenger window — while it was still moving! Was this some sort of new gangland initiation they weren’t aware of? Whatever the case, this truck driver was behaving like a stuntman from a Hollywood action flick!
Because the officers couldn’t see the actual driver of the sedan, they had missed one critical piece of information. Thankfully, 39-year-old Randy Tompkins, the pickup driver who saved the day, had a clear view of the car’s inside cabin, and he knew exactly what was going on. The poor guy was having a seizure!
Randy was driving down the street in the opposite direction when he spotted the sedan weaving in and out of his lane. Unfortunately, it was traveling the wrong way, and would crash into him and his wife if he didn’t do something! He immediately knew the other driver was having a seizure, because the man had his arms up to his chest. Incredibly, Randy has actually been in this exact same situation before.
When he was 16, he was in a head on collision with a 92-year-old woman who had seized up behind the wheel. Randy wished he could have acted more quickly back then, but now he was being given a second chance to make it right. This time around, not only were Randy’s actions swift and on point, but he did it with such amazing flair!
The entire scene lasted less than a minute, but his «Dukes of Hazzard» style heroics will be remembered for quite some time to come! Even the police officers who were originally at the scene were stunned. Officer Sharp told the Chicago Tribune:
«It happened so fast — initially, you don’t know what’s going on, so obviously the priority for us as police officers is to give your location out to dispatch so that way, no matter where it goes, they know what’s going on. When (Randy) jumped through the window, I just stopped what I was doing on the radio, I didn’t even finish calling it out.»
Randy has been in contact with the other driver on Facebook, and discovered it was the first time the man had ever experienced a seizure. Naturally, the anonymous driver was super grateful that Randy was there to save him!
Had it not been for video footage, this story might be just another one of those tall tales or urban legends that gets passed around campfires and seedy biker bars. Although this wasn’t a Hollywood movie, it certainly played out like one. This true story of one man’s heroic actions definitely deserves to be spread around like wildfire!
Watch the video below to see dash cam footage of Randy’s heroic stunt moves!
