Heroic Female Officer Saves Elderly Man in Wheelchair from Oncoming Train

• Officer Erika Urrea spotted an unidentified man in a wheelchair while she was driving.
• The elderly man’s chair seemed stuck on the train tracks.
• Dramatic body cam footage showed the female officer saving him just in the nick of time, before the train barrelled past.

Officer Erika Urrea of the Lodi Police Department in San Francisco was on patrol in the Central Valley community with Sgt. Steve Maynard on Wednesday morning.

While driving, she spotted a man in a wheelchair out of the corner of her eye. The man’s chair was apparently stuck on the train tracks.

“He seemed to be almost wiggling, like he was stuck,” the 36-year-old officer said in an interview with NBC Nightly News.

Noticing the lights flashing, the train horn blaring, and the railroad crossing arms going down, the moving train was evidently fast approaching. Officer Urrea quickly hopped out of her patrol car, raced towards the man, unbuckled his belt, and dragged him out of the wheelchair, both of them consequently falling down to the ground.

Her body cam captured the suspenseful moment, as the barreling train came so close it hit the man’s chair.

The 66-year-old unidentified man sustained a leg injury due to the fall. Officer Urrea and Officer Delgado, another police officer who arrived on the scene, attended to the man. They immediately transported him to a local hospital for medical treatment.

According to Officer Urrea, she didn’t have time to be afraid at that moment. However, she later admitted that it’s actually hard for her to watch the video.

I was trying to figure out ‘OK, where’s the train? I don’t know how fast the train is going. How much time do I have?’ But my goal was, ‘I need to get him off the tracks,” Officer Urrea told NBC.

Honestly, it seems like I’m watching someone else’s video. It’s very surreal … it was scary to watch.

The Lodi Police Department, proud of what their officer had done, shared the video on social media. The footage has then become viral.

They wrote on Facebook:

“Officer Urrea risked her own life to save another and her actions prevented a tragedy today. We are extremely proud of Officer Erika Urrea and her heroism.”

Watch the video here: