A reservist's rapid reaction gave a Northern California New Year's story involving a burning SUV, a concrete retaining wall, a skateboard and a suspected drunk driver a happier ending than one might expect.
Spc. Logan Sutherland, 22, was riding home around 1 a.m. after a small New Year's Eve celebration at his brother's place when he saw a man flagging down traffic. He leaped from the car before his girlfriend stopped it and found himself facing a Ford Explorer that had rammed a retaining wall at an intersection just off Highway 101 north of Santa Rosa.
The SUV was on fire, and the driver was inside. Another rescuer had a skateboard, Sutherland told Army Times on Monday night, "and I got him to bash in the back passenger window [with it], behind the driver's seat."
Sutherland unbuckled the woozy driver's seat belt and removed him from the SUV as the flames crept closer to the cabin. The specialist, a horizontal construction engineer with 801st Engineer Battalion out of Vallejo, said he initially thought the man's mental fog may have stemmed from a concussion.
"After a while, he started repeatedly saying his girlfriend was driving the vehicle," Sutherland said. "That seemed like a knee-jerk reaction."
Police officers caught up with the driver after he'd been taken to the hospital, where he "exhibited signs of intoxication and was eventually placed under arrest," according to a post on the California Highway Patrol's Facebook page. The man had prior DUI convictions, CHP said.
Sutherland signed his active-duty contract in 2009 and served until this summer, switching to the Reserve and becoming a full-time student at Santa Rosa Junior College. His actions have drawn local media attention, and while he credited his Army training for his fast response, he downplayed the incident.
"I saw something that needed to happen, and I made it happen," he said. "If I saw it again, I'd do it again. I don't see it as something heroic. It's just who I am."
It may also serve as on-the-job training: Sutherland said he's considering a career in law enforcement.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
