Dashcam captures police officer’s lifesaving efforts after SUV crashes during pursuit
A dashcam video captured a Grandview police officer’s lifesaving efforts after an SUV he was pursuing crashed, rolled several times and ejected the driver Sunday.
The video shows Officer Chris Golubski and a nurse, who was passing by at the time of the crash, performing CPR on the driver following the wreck.
The city released the 24 1/2 -minute video Tuesday showing the dramatic crash, with the SUV flipping and debris and dust flying. The video also shows the driver being thrown from the SUV.
“We’re all really proud of Chris,” said Detective Sgt. Dean Van Winkle, a spokesman for the Grandview Police Department.
Golubski will have been with the department for three years next month. Van Winkle described him as a very good officer who does an outstanding job.
“We felt pretty fortunate because the police officers in our department had just received CPR training taught by our Grandview Fire Department this past January,” he said. “It was really timely and paid off in this situation.”
The incident began about 12:35 p.m. Sunday while Golubski was on routine patrol in the southern part of Grandview. He saw a green Ford Explorer with a broken back window and started following it near East 148th Terrace and Barat Avenue.
He noticed the driver wasn’t wearing a seat belt. As the vehicle turned off Barat to head north on East Frontage Road to Interstate 49, Golubski decided to pull the driver over.
As the SUV went over Missouri 150, Golubski turned on his lights and siren. The SUV accelerated. Soon the driver lost control and the SUV weaved, veered to the left, struck a curb and rolled several times.
Golubski ran to the SUV to confront the driver, yelling at him to show his hands. When he realized the driver wasn’t in the vehicle, Golubski searched for the driver and found him in a ditch.
Fortunately for the driver, he landed in a grassy area and not on the hard pavement, Van Winkle said. After finding the driver, Golubski began rendering first aid.
“He went real quick from a law enforcement role to a lifesaving role at that point,” Van Winkle said. “He assessed him and assessed the situation and started chest compressions.”
The nurse, Kristine Killiam, and her husband witnessed the crash. She ran to help.
After about 20 chest compressions, the driver came around. Killiam determined he had a good pulse.
Medics arrived shortly thereafter and rushed the driver to a hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Police talked to the driver in the hospital.
The video shows how easily a person can be thrown from a vehicle if not wearing a seat belt.
The video also serves another valuable lesson.
“When we try to pull you over, it’s hardly worth the risk to everybody and yourself to run from us,” Van Winkle said.
This is the second dashcam video this year showing the heroic efforts of area law enforcement officers.
Robert A. Cronkleton: 816-234-4261, @cronkb
This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Dashcam captures police officer’s lifesaving efforts after SUV crashes during pursuit."