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Auburn good Samaritans help police officer out of burning car

Auburn Police are calling Jake Estabrook a hero after he and his neighbor sprang into action to help rescue a police officer.

AUBURN, Calif. — Auburn police call Jake Estabrook a hero after he and his neighbor sprang into action to help rescue a police officer who crashed into a retaining wall following a chase.

"I was walking out of my house and at the same exact second, I heard a boom," explained Estabrook who lives in Auburn. 

Estabrook said he knew something wasn’t right when he heard a car alarm going off and saw the trees in his backyard illuminated by flashing police lights.  

Around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 23, an officer attempted to pull over Ryan Schlittenhart, 29, of Meadow Vista, for failing to stop at a red light. The suspect instead led police on a chase, that's when an officer lost control of their patrol car and crashed. 

"When I looked over the fence, it was a cop car smashed up against a wall," he explained. 

According to a press release from the Auburn Police Department, the officer's car "became engulfed in flames and preliminary reports reveal the officer was unable to open his door to get out."

Estabrook and his neighbor ran to the street behind their homes.

"I hopped the fence," he explained. "He was trapped. He had the airbag up against him, he looked hurt. And at the same exact time, people start screaming, 'the car’s on fire, the car’s on fire!'"

He said between watching a lot of Grey’s Anatomy episodes and his girlfriends’ training in the medical field he had a good idea of what to do and how to handle the officer. 

"I slowly got him out," he explained. "Once he was out of the car, I backed him up." 

The officer was taken to a hospital when he was later released.

While many may not have reacted the way Estabrook did, he said as a new father, he felt compelled.

"I could imagine, if that cop had kids of his own, I would want someone to help me get back home to my kids," he said. "That definitely went through my head."

As it turned out, the Auburn police officer who had yet to be named did have a family waiting for him at home. Auburn Chief of Police Ryan Kinnan met Estabrook and his family on Wednesday afternoon to honor the good Samaritan. 

"I'm super proud to meet Jacob," said Kinnan. "I'm honored that he put his life in harm's way to save our cop because our cop has a young family too."

Kinnan called him a hero for potentially saving his officer's life. 

"You know the world continues to be a good place when you've got people like Jake," said Kinnan.

Estabrook does not consider himself a hero, he said it was just the right thing to do. 

"You see someone in need, you help them, you know?" he said. "It doesn’t matter the situation, if you're able to help, help."

The suspect who originally led police on the chase, Ryan Schlittenhart, was later arrested and charged with driving under the influence and evading an officer.

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