Video Shows Texas Police Officer Nearly Caught in Explosion

April 19, 2018
Hurst Police Officer Travis Hiser is shown being blown back, but he recovers and assists police Cpl. Ryan Tooker in getting a couple out of the home.

HURST, Texas -- A Hurst officer had just stepped onto a yard where an SUV had crashed into a home when the residence exploded on April 7, according to a dashcam video released Wednesday.

Immediately, officer Travis Hiser is shown being blown back, but he recovers and assists police Cpl. Ryan Tooker in getting a couple out of the home in the 400 block of Myrtle Drive.

Hiser suffered a concussion, while Tooker was treated for cuts and bruises resulting from his search for survivors.

Both officers are back on duty as of Wednesday.

The couple, Dixie and Charles Bridges, remained at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, their daughter said Wednesday.

Sarah Shirey said her father recently had surgery for skin grafts on his hands and her mother, who had a nicked artery, is breathing on her own and talking.

"If paramedics wouldn't have been there, my mother probably would have died," Shirey said.

The explosion occurred about 1 p.m. after the SUV crashed into the residence.

"I didn't know what it was," said Shirey, who lives five blocks from her parents. "I thought it was thunder at first."

The vehicle clipped a gas meter, and something sparked the gas, causing the blast, authorities said.

The driver was taken into custody for not having a driver's license. An immigration hold was placed on Alejandro Enriquez-Castro, 35.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Enriquez-Castro told them he had entered the country illegally in 2001, and he was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2003 in Fort Worth.

Enrique-Castro remains in ICE custody pending his immigration and court hearings.

Staff writer Elizabeth Campbell contributed to this report.

Domingo Ramirez Jr.:817-390-7763,@mingoramirezjr

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©2018 the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Visit the Fort Worth Star-Telegram at www.star-telegram.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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