BARTLESVILLE, Okla. — A Bartlesville police lieutenant clocked in early when he saw a man drive off the road into a lake on his way into the office.
Lt. Chris Neal was headed to work on Nov. 30 around 7:30 a.m. when he saw a truck take a sudden turn off of Adams Boulevard and into Lee Lake.
"In my training experience, you usually go with worst first," said Neal. "And worse would be somebody’s doing this on purpose."
Neal said the truck went airborne and then went down a steep embankment and crashed into the water.
As soon as Neal got on scene, he began preparing to get into the water. He said, when another vehicle arrived, he wasn't sure what to expect.
Off-duty firefighter Chris Buchanan and BPD Sgt. Steve Johnson quickly arrived and helped Neal go into the lake to attempt to save the man in the truck.
"After a number of years, some of these situations become a little automatic, um a lot of experience," said Buchanan. "I was fortunate enough to have that on my side, I think officer Neal as well."
Neal and Buchanan have worked in their departments the same amount of time, and have a strong working relationship. They said knowing that makes going into situations like this one easier to approach.
"He looked at me and said, ‘are we getting wet?’" said Neal. "There wasn’t ‘what are we doing? What do you want me to…’ I mean he knew what was happening, I knew what was happening and we both knew we were going in that water. There was no conversation about it, it was just action."
The three were in waist-deep water and learned the truck doors were locked.
Sgt. Johnson went and got a baton from Neal's car and broke the truck window. Neal then got the door open and Buchanan pulled the man from the truck. All three of the men helped get the man back to shore where he could get emergency treatment.
Buchanan said that even though he was off duty, his mind is programmed to constantly be on, and thinking about those around him. The first thing on his mind when he saw the truck veer off the road was 'get the patient out.'
"Same thing we do everyday, if were wearing one of these uniforms," said Buchanan. "Its just, I wasn't wearing one of these uniforms that day, and I was fortunate enough to be on scene."
Bartlesville police said first responders took the man to the hospital where he is recovering.
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