---
title: "Intense Video Shows Police, Bystanders Pulling Victims from Burning Cadillac"
description: "Some serious heroics after a horrific car crash."
date: "2017-07-31"
modified: "2017-07-31"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/13057/intense-video-shows-police-bystanders-pulling-victims-from-burning-cadillac"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Accident"
  - "Cadillac"
  - "Crash"
  - "Minnesota"
  - "police"
  - "rescue"
---

# Intense Video Shows Police, Bystanders Pulling Victims from Burning Cadillac

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/07/rescue.png>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Dramatic video shows police officers and witnesses saving two people trapped in the burning wreckage of their car after the pair plunged off a [highway overpass](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/12652/this-acura-tl-type-s-is-a-sneeze-away-from-plunging-off-a-bridge>) in Minneapolis on Wednesday night.

[According to the *Minneapolis Star Tribune*,](<https://www.startribune.com/video-shows-minneapolis-police-rescuing-motorists-from-burning-car/437622123/>) the dark-colored Cadillac ATS was seen traveling at a high rate of speed before the driver failed to navigate [a sharp turn at the end of a long straight,](<https://www.google.com/maps/place/45%C2%B001'45.7%22N+93%C2%B017'10.7%22W/@45.02936,-93.2879878,624m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d45.02936!4d-93.286311>) sending the car flying over a guardrail and falling at least 16 feet onto the westbound lanes of I-94 below. Two Minneapolis police officers arrived on scene minutes later, and that's where the eight-minute video begins.

In the footage, recorded by a witness, you can see the officers approaching the smashed Cadillac, which came to rest on its wheels after reportedly rolling several times upon landing. The wreckage is already smoking, and flames begin to erupt from the engine at around the 0:40 mark as the officers work to extract a female passenger. The unconscious driver remains pinned in the driver's seat.

The officers pull the woman to safety, but the flames quickly grow as they race back to the car and discover the driver's door won't open. Two bystanders and another officer join in the effort to free the man as the fire rages, and after a minute of struggling they finally manage to pull him out of the front passenger door and drag him away from the flaming wreckage. The rest of the video documents the emergency response and shows the officers giving the man CPR for at least five minutes straight until paramedics arrive.

Sadly the driver, [identified by police](<https://www.startribune.com/video-shows-minneapolis-police-rescuing-motorists-from-burning-car/437622123/>) as 31-year-old Floyd Cunningham, later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Still, the video clearly shows the heroic behavior of everyone involved with the rescue.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)