A police officer trying to stop a speeder ended up pulling a baby girl from a burning car early Thursday.
Prince William police Officer Heath Oyler was running radar on Yorkshire Lane near Manassas at 5:45 a.m. when a car sped by going 45 mph in a 25 mph zone.
Oyler activated his lights and sirens but the car did not stop, said Prince William police spokeswoman 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn.
The driver turned onto Rugby Road and headed west, then accelerated. Oyler lost sight of the car and chose not to give chase at high speed, Chinn said.
“I did not pursue the car but I did follow him to try and get him to slow down and pull over,” said Oyler.
The officer caught up with the car, but by the time he did it had crashed into a small brick wall bordering the driveway of a home along the road.
Photos Oyler took at the scene show the hood was completely smashed as the car plowed through a fence and came to rest on top of a pile of cinderblocks.
The driver jumped from the car and was trying to get away, but fell to the ground because of his injuries, said Oyler.
The car’s engine compartment caught fire, and that’s when the driver told the officer that his baby girl was inside the car.
Oyler rushed to the car to find the child.
“I couldn’t get the driver’s side door opened so I went around to the passenger side door and pried it open, reached in and pulled the baby out,” he said.
Though heavy smoke was billowing from the engine into the cabin, Oyler said he had no problems getting the girl out of her car seat.
The 8-month-old girl was okay, though she was checked at a hospital as a precaution. She was released to her mother.
The driver suffered minor injuries and was treated at a local hospital. He has been identified as 23-year-old Gustavo Adolfo Diaz-Bautista, of 14527 Castleford Court in Centreville, Chinn said.
He was charged with felony eluding, felony child abuse and neglect and driving on a revoked driver’s license, Chinn said. He was held without bond and is expected to appear in court Sept. 15.
Oyler said he was never seen anything like this during his seven years as a police officer.
“I did what I had to do,” he said.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
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