WATCH: Police Officer Saves Dog From Burning Car After Driver Fled On Foot
By Bill Galluccio
August 11, 2023
A police officer in Texas is being praised for saving a dog from a burning car. Constable Josh Joplin of Smith County Precinct 4 said that Lt. Josh Hill was on patrol when he attempted to pull over a driver who nearly struck his vehicle at a high rate of speed.
The driver refused to pull over and led Hill on a chase for nearly ten minutes. The high-speed chase came to an end when the driver crashed into the woods. As the driver fled on foot, the car burst into flames.
As Hill went to check on the car, he noticed there was a dog sitting inside. He braved the flames, managed to open the door, and tried to coax the dog out. The dog initially refused to leave, so Hill climbed into the vehicle, grabbed the dog by the collar, and pulled it to safety.
The dog was fine, and Hill suffered minor burns to his fingers.
Officials did not provide details about what happened to the driver.
"We are very proud to have outstanding peace officers such as Lt. Hill here in Precinct 4," Joplin wrote on Facebook.
He also shared a video of the daring rescue.
At 2:07 PM, Lieutenant Josh Hill was patrolling in the 11500 block of CR 3101 (Barber Rd) in Precinct 4, when a black passenger car traveling at a high rate of speed, veered into Lt. Hill’s lane of travel, nearly hitting his patrol vehicle. Lt. Hill attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle and the vehicle fled. The pursuit lasted approximately 9 minutes, and the pursuit ended at West Goforth and Old Hwy 135 in Gregg County, where the vehicle wrecked out. The driver exited the vehicle and fled the scene of the crash. The vehicle caught fire and while Lt. Hill was clearing the vehicle, he noticed a dog had been left inside the burning vehicle. With Fire Department on the way and an unknown ETA, Lt. Hill decided to approach the burning vehicle in an attempt to make entry to retrieve the dog. He was successful in retrieving the dog from the burning vehicle and sustained minimal burns to his fingers. We are very proud to have outstanding peace officers such as Lt. Hill here in Precinct 4. The Precinct 4 Constable’s Office would like to thank the Gregg County Sheriffs Office, Gregg County DPS, Kilgore Police Department, Kilgore City Animal Control, Gladewater and Sabine Fire Department, and all the Citizens who stopped to render aid. We truly appreciate the professionalism we always receive from Sheriff Cerliano, and Chief Hunter’s staff. Great working relationships with our neighboring Gregg County First Responders has solved a lot of crime in both our Counties. #ConstablesOfTheNortheast #AnimalLovers #ServingTheCommunity #GreggCoSmithCoLine #ProudToBeYourConstables
Posted by Constable Josh Joplin Smith County Precinct 4 on Thursday, August 10, 2023