Two Milwaukee police officers are being hailed as heroes after footage from their daring rescue went viral.
Officer Nicholas Reid and Officer Nicholas Schlei (partners known informally as the department’s “Nick Squad,” for their shared first name) were on a routine patrol in their squad car on December 26, 2017 when they saw a shocking sight. Right in front of their eyes, a car filled with teens careened out of control, hitting a utility pole and then flipping over.
Immediately, the brave heroes raced into action — despite the fact that the crashed and flipped car was on fire and could potentially have blown up at any time. The entire ordeal was captured by their body cameras.
“I knew the car had the potential to become engulfed, but at the time, that’s not what we were thinking. We were just thinking, keep going until everybody’s out,” said Officer Schlei.
Witnesses saw the whole incident unfold from their homes. After noticing that the power was out (due to the car hitting the utility pole), one witness named Traniqua Colon looked out the window and saw the dramatic rescue.
“I’d just seen one police officer, he was knocking out the window on the driver’s side, and he pulled out a guy in a red shirt,” Traniqua said.
The “Nick Squad” pulled out two unconscious teens from the car, while a third crawled out on his own. There were no fatalities, thanks to the quick thinking of the officers.
Watch the dramatic rescue in the video below, and don’t forget to SHARE this story with your friends and family on Facebook!
Thumbnail Photo: E.W. Scripps – WTMJ Milwaukee
Footage provided by WTMJ Milwaukee
