Last summer, the Austin city council defunded the police department by cutting their budget by more than 30%, but that didn’t stop two officers still on the job from risking their own lives this week. On Monday, two Austin police officers arrived at the scene of a burning vehicle with a man trapped inside.
As flames intensified, fully engulfing the vehicle at around 4:40 p.m., the officers never gave up until the man was pulled from the blaze and dragged safely away. Witnesses said the man appeared to be having a medical episode. The man was unconscious when he was pulled from the vehicle.
Later that night, the same two police officers performed life-saving actions to save the life of a 19-year-old gunshot victim. Assistant Chief Robin Henderson presented Officers Pineda and Carrera with a chief’s coin of recognition for their heroic actions yesterday. They saved a man’s life by pulling him out of a burning vehicle.
