A Roanoke Rapids police officer will be formally lauded at a future city council meeting for his part in helping get two crash victims out of a car before it was consumed by fire.
The rescue occurred Tuesday on Interstate 95 in Nash County as Officer Curtis Batchelor, who was off-duty and headed back to Roanoke Rapids at the time, assisted along with others, according to interim Chief Bobby Martin.
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The crash occurred in a wooded area off the interstate north of Highway 64 near the Hunter Hill Road overpass, according to an account in the Rocky Mount Telegram.
Four people were injured after a vehicle struck a tractor-trailer. “This is where Officer Curtis Batchelor and others sprang into action trying to help the family in the crash,” Martin said in a statement. “Officer Batchelor and Chris Frisbee (a Greenville native) were able to get the two front passengers out of the vehicle before it was consumed by flames.”
Said Martin: “The heroic actions of these two and others helped emergency responders get the victims to hospitals to care for their injuries sustained in the crash. Officer Batchelor has maintained contact with the driver’s mother to monitor how the victims of the wreck are recovering.”
Martin said, “The Roanoke Rapids Police Department is proud of the actions of Officer Curtis Batchelor and the others that stopped to render aid to this family. The actions of Officer Curtis Batchelor are to be commended and shared with the community he protects and serves.
“This is a great example of what officers do even when they are off and happen upon accidents or other events that they can assist in. They don’t think of themselves, they are thinking of the victims involved and want to help anyway they can.”
