Video shows cops rescuing occupants from burning car

Police officers and a Good Samaritan rescued two passengers from a burning car after the intoxicated driver crashed early Thursday in West Islip, police said.

The passengers were critically injured and the driver, Jack Magee, 22, of Brightwaters, was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, Suffolk County police said.

Magee was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center in West Islip with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said.

At about 1:05 a.m. on Alwick Avenue, police said, Magee “failed to negotiate a turn and struck a stone wall” in front of an Edmore Lane South home while driving a 2001 Ford Taurus.

“The vehicle caught fire following the crash and when officers arrived Magee was outside his vehicle but two other occupants remained in the burning car,” police said in a statement.

“Third Precinct Police Officer Joseph White and a nearby resident pulled the front seat passenger from the vehicle,” police said. “When they attempted to remove the other passenger, they were unable to open the rear doors of the vehicle due to damage. Officer White and Officer Jose Estrella worked to remove the passenger while Officers Christopher Germano and John Pizzuto worked to hold the fire at bay using fire extinguishers. The officers were able to extricate the victim and responding firefighters then extinguished the fire.”

The rescue was caught on video by a neighbor.

Both passengers were in critical but stable condition at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center.

Magee will be arraigned at a later date.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”