Video: Hero Risks Life To Save Victims Trapped in Burning Car

MAMARONECK, NY — It was barely after midnight on Sunday morning and Robert Harris already wasn't having a good day. He and his passenger, Nick Collado, had just been pulled over by Mamaroneck police officers on Boston Post Road near Hammocks Road.

Harris had no idea how much worse things were about to become.

“While we were pulled over, a car came flying by at a really high rate of speed,” Harris told Patch. “Then all of a sudden the car crossed the road and hit the telephone pole.We all just started running to help. The car was already on fire by the time we got there.”

The events that took place next sound more like an action movie trope than reality. If Collado had not recorded the harrowing scene as it unfolded, the heroic rescue only seconds before the car was engulfed in flames might sound like a work of Hollywood fantasy.

Footage shows Harris working feverishly to pry open the door as flames spread from the undercarriage of the car. Collado can be heard on the video imploring his friend to hurry.

“Come on, Robby,” Collado shouts repeatedly as he motions with his hand for his friend to get out of harm's way. “Robby the gas line is lit!”

Asked why he ignored the warnings from his friends and admonishments from police officers to evacuate the scene, Harris confessed he didn’t have much choice in the matter.

“I couldn’t leave anyone in that car,” he explained matter-of-factly. “It was burning up. I finally just bent the door and we managed to get them both out. I couldn’t live with it if I walked away to just save myself.”

The video cuts off as Collado rushes to help one of the victims, a teenage girl still unconscious soon after being extricated from the burning wreckage.

“I just cradled her head and kept saying, ‘stay with me, stay with me,’” he recounted. “I was shouting for an ambulance. It was messed up.”

Mamaroneck police have not yet released the names of the car crash victims. One person was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene. The two passengers rescued from the burning car are said to have sustained serious injuries and were rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, according to a police department spokesperson.

Though a reluctant hero, Harris says the experience is unlike anything he had ever imagined. For one, while initial media reports lauded the police officers involved in the rescue as heroes, only cursory mention was made of a good Samaritan who offered assistance. He says that he is left feeling worse for the experience.

SEE ALSO: Mamaroneck Police Officers Singled Out For 'Heroic Efforts'

“Like I said, I’m not trying to discredit the officers in any way,” Harris said. “I hope I never see anything like that again. I can’t eat. I haven’t been able to sleep.”

Two days later, more than 200 loved ones gathered at the scene of the Sunday morning accident to light candles and release balloons in honor of the fatal victim of the crash. The white balloons offered words of remembrance and farewell for a life cut tragically short.

Harris and Collado were on hand at the ceremony to show their respect for a stranger they will never have the chance to meet. The pair resisted invitations to speak to those gathered. Instead they kept a low profile and were content to reflect on how a chance traffic stop ended with so many lives changed forever.

“They [officers] already gave us the ticket, but the officer said to go to court and he’d take care of it,” Collado added. “He said not to worry because of what we did.”