Jan 01, 2020

Kan. officer helps pull 2 from crashed, burning car; suspect arrested

Posted Jan 01, 2020 5:00 PM
Carter photo Sedgwick Co.
Carter photo Sedgwick Co.

WICHITA, KAN. (AP) — A Wichita police officer helped pull two women from a burning car after the driver crashed and ran away.

The 25-year-old driver identified as Isaiah Carter was arrested near the accident early Tuesday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence, aggravated battery, resisting arrest, having outstanding warrants and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The car was going north on a street in east Wichita when an officer saw it accelerate rapidly. The officer turned around but didn’t turn on his lights before car crashed into a concrete retaining wall near U.S. 400, according to officer Charley Davidson.

By the time a second officer arrived at the accident, the car's engine compartment had caught fire.

A 37-year-old woman in the front passenger seat and a 31-year-old woman in the rear seat were still in the car and incapacitated. Davidson said the second officer pulled them to safety.

Both women and a 31-year-old man who got out of the car on his own were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The Wichita Fire Department extinguished the blaze. Davidson said a handgun was found in the car and cocaine was found nearby.

Carter has previous convictions for aggravated battery and child endangerment, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.