California Police Drag Man Out of the Way of an Oncoming Train

One officer dragged him out of the way and the other tried to slow the train.

ByABC News
August 4, 2015, 10:41 AM

— -- Two police officers saved a man from being hit from an oncoming train and the dramatic rescue was all caught on video.

Dep. Lance Whitted, from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s office, pulled a driver to safety Monday night, just seconds before a commuter train came down the tracks in Sunnyvale, California.

His partner, Dep. Erik Rueppel, tried to buy Whitted more time as he waved for the oncoming train to slow down, ABC News affiliate KGO reported.

“This is what we’re trained to do,” Whitted told KGO. “Luckily, we were at the right place at the right time.”

The driver of the car had crashed into a pole and onto the tracks as the train was coming. The dramatic video shows him falling down seconds before the train crashes into his car left on the tracks.

“I don’t think there was time to be scared. You just do things as safe as you can, respond and that’s it. It kind of just happens,” Rueppel told KGO.

The driver had minor injuries.

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.