Video captures officer's heroic rescue after car drives into pond, leaving mother stuck
A police officer in Texas was honored after he saved a mother who had a seizure while driving and drove her car into a pond.
West Orange Officer Charles Cobb was monitoring traffic around 8 p.m. on July 24 on Highway 87 in West Orange, about 115 miles from Houston, when a young boy ran towards him for help.
"I happened to look up and I saw what appeared to be a child running down the middle of a seven-lane highway," Cobb said, according to Austin American-Statesman, part of the Paste BN Network. "And so I pulled out and went down to see what was going on."
Bodycam footage captures dramatic rescue
Police bodycam footage showed a panicked boy rushing towards the officer screaming "She's having a seizure! She's sunk! She's in the water, help her!" in between breaths while pointing in the direction of a small pond, where a car was submerged in water.
"When you see a car in the water like that, I mean, you know something's got to be done right then," Cobb said. "You know, the car was slowly sinking, so I immediately took my duty belt off. And I realized that the lady that the child was talking about was still in the car. So, there was no time to waste."
Cobb jumped into the water to help the woman only to discover the vehicle's doors were locked. He retrieved a window punch from his patrol car and with the assistance of two workers, Epi Munguia and Corey Bull, from a local plant broke the window to open the car.
"It's just by the grace of God that all of us were there, they were willing to help, and we all working together were able to get her out," Cobb said, as per the Statesman.
Once they were able to pull the woman, who was unconscious, pulseless, and not breathing, out of the car, the officer immediately began CPR to revive her. After a tense few minutes, with both children standing nearby, the woman finally started gasping.
"Whenever she finally took that first gasp of air it was just a giant relief because I was really worried with her children being there," Cobb said.
She was later transported by EMS to a local hospital for treatment, police said.
How did the car end up in the pond?
The woman, identified as Jonquetta Winbush, was driving along the highway with her two children Bri-Asia, 16 and Dwight, 12, when she experienced a seizure, as per Assistant Police Chief Jessie Romero.
Bri-Asia told the responding officer she'd noticed her mother starting to have a seizure and got out of the vehicle and walked to the driver's side to put the car in park and help, but the doors had been locked.
Winbush's foot then slipped off the brake and hit the gas pedal, sending the vehicle across the highway and into the pond. Bri-Asia immediately ran over to help her brother Dwight out of the car and told him to go find help.
'We're family now': Officer recognized for pond rescue
The City of West Orange last Monday recognized and thanked Officer Cobb, and citizens Epi Munguia and Corey Bull, for their quick-thinking and bravery that ultimately saved Winbush's life.
"The West Orange Police Department believes in recognition of its officers, their actions and outstanding efforts in service to the community and their fellow officers," West Orange Police Chief Michael S. Stelly said in a statement to Paste BN Monday. "In keeping with this belief, the City of West Orange Police Department recognizes Officer Charles Cobb for his outstanding and courageous efforts on July 24, 2024."
Stelly, in the statement, said Officer Cobb’s "actions qualify him for this Life-Saving Award" and that the department and city thanks him for "his dedication to the community."
Cobb's kindness, meanwhile, did not end with the rescue. He later also visited Winbush as she received medical attention, the Statesman reported.
"She told me at the hospital earlier, we were talking and she just looked at me and she said, 'You know, we're family now'," Cobb shared of his visit.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.