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TAMPA -- Tampa's chief of police says the good Samaritan who helped a police officer out of her damaged, smoking cruiser probably saved her life.
"I would definitely call him a hero," Chief Stephen Hogue said at a news conference this morning. "He stopped, rendered aid when, in fact, other people did not stop."
Archie Thomas and his wife, Angela Cook, were on their way to his job about 6:30 a.m. when they saw a Jeep Cherokee stopped at a green light on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near North 27th Street. They beeped their vehicle's horn, which he said startled the driver, who began swerving back and forth, Thomas said.
Thomas said he and his wife tried to flag down a deputy to stop the Jeep Cherokee. But the Jeep ran a red light, crossed the centerline of the four-lane road and crashed head-on into Officer Tara Edwards' police cruiser, Thomas said.
Edwards could not get out of the cruiser because of her injuries, Thomas said.
Thomas rushed to her aid.
He said he was afraid to move Edwards because he thought she might have a head wound. Her cruiser was smoking, though, and he was afraid of what might happen if he didn't act quickly.
He unfastened her seat belt and carried her to safety.
"Thirty, 40 seconds later, it just exploded," Thomas said of the cruiser. "I knew if I reacted fast I could get her out in time."
Angela Cook, a registered nurse, helped provide first aid to the injured officer. Another person, Douglas Rand, also helped Edwards after the crash, police said.
"When he removed her, the vehicle was smoldering," Lt. Diane Hobley-Burney said. "Once he got her to safety on the sidewalk, it became engulfed in flames. ... If you could see the severity of this accident -- the officer was probably pretty shaken -- the citizen's assistance was essential in assuring her safety."
Thomas said Edwards was incredibly calm, which helped him. "If she had panicked, I probably would've been like, 'Oh my God!'"
The green 1994 Jeep Cherokee that struck the officer's cruiser was driven by 39-year-old Marti Sue Ottley of Tampa, Hobley-Burney said.
Ottley and Edwards, an 18-year police veteran, were taken to Tampa General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Ottley might have a dislocated shoulder, Hobley-Burney said.
Edwards has a broken leg and a severely broken wrist, Hogue said.
No charges have been filed, and police are continuing to investigate what led to the crash, Hogue said.
Thomas, who works for Truck Watch, a truck stop on Interstate 4, said he went to work after the crash, but his boss sent him home.
After the news conference, he said, he would be heading out to eat at Golden Corral.
TBO.com producers Beth Gaddis and Daniela Valazquez and Tribune photographer Jay Conner contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.
