A decorated sheriff's deputy in Virginia is being praised for acting quickly — again — to save a person trapped in a potentially life-threatening situation.
On May 7, Deputy J. Holt, with the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office, responded to a report of an overturned automobile with an entrapment.
"The driver was laying underneath the vehicle with her head pinned by the sunroof," the Sheriff's Office wrote in a Facebook post, which contains brief, graphic footage of the accident, the woman trapped motionless under the car, and her child screaming from the back seat.
"Seeing the trauma her child was witnessing, Deputy J. Holt went into overdrive. Through sheer will and determination due to fearing the female may succumb to her circumstance in front of her panic-stricken child, Deputy J. Holt took quick action and was able to physically lift the vehicle up enough for the driver to maneuver her head out to safety," the post said.
In the video, Holt sidles up to the vehicle and can be heard straining vigorously as the video goes blank from the camera pressing up against a surface.
"Mom, try to get out!" the voice of the child shouts. Holt continues to strain.
"Can you slide anything Ma'am, is your head clear?" Holt says. The video ends.
GCSO said that Deputy Holt recently was awarded local and regional "Top Cop Awards" for rescuing two people from a burning home in March 2020.
According to a statement from the Virginia State Police, the car's driver was later charged with driving under the influence; driving while using a cell phone; driving without inspection; and with a hit and run, allegedly involving an incident that was reported just before her 2012 Kia Sorento drove off the road and overturned.
The VSP did not immediately respond to a NBC News request for comment on the woman's injuries.
Gloucester County Sheriff Darrell Warren said after the car was lifted and she was able to escape, the woman's injuries "didn't appear to be life threatening."
