Friday, July 3, 2015

1 dead, 1 deputy injured while trying to render aid after fiery crash in Oakland Park, Florida



 JULY 3, 2015

OAKLAND PARK, Fla.

One man has died, and a Broward deputy was been injured while trying to help the victims of a fiery crash in Oakland Park.
 
The accident happened along Northwest 21st Avenue and Oakland Park Boulevard, early Friday morning.    


According to a witness, 40-year-old Kenny Allen was behind the wheel of a 2004 two-door Honda Civic and traveling at a high rate of speed. For an unknown reason, he lost control and the vehicle came up on a median. It began to slide across the eastbound lanes until it struck an FPL utility pole. Due to the impact, the back of the car burst into flames. However, he would later succumb to his injuries at Broward Health Medical Center.
 
Deputy Dustin Sisson, a five-year veteran with the Broward Sheriff's Office, happened upon the crash after the incident and noticed Allen's passenger, 45-year-old Howard Randolph, walking outside of the vehicle.


As Sisson attempted to extinguish the flames, he noticed Allen was still strapped to the driver's seat. He quickly cut Allen's belt and pulled him out of the vehicle.

 "The car flipped and just slammed right into the pole," said Bernardo Smith, "and then I just saw sparks and flames. The officer that was with me, that came up on the scene at the same time, he cut the seat belt for him and then there was another one that pulled him out, that helped us and we just dragged him by the tree, and the other officer was doing CPR on him."

A second deputy, Jonathan Zinglo, arrived on the scene and accessed that Allen was unconscious and was without a pulse. He immediately performed CPR. "I just started praying to God and praying for everybody that was involved," said Smith.

Randolph was also transported to Broward Health Medical Center after sustaining critical injuries. Zinglo was transported to Holy Cross Hospital after showing symptoms of heat exhaustion but was discharged a short time later.