INDIANAPOLIS -- Five good samaritans are being hailed as heroes after pulling a toddler to safety from a burning car on Indy's east side Friday morning.
IMPD said it all happened around 12:30 a.m. when a woman driving eastbound on I-70 ran off the ramp, hit a transformer and slammed into the side of a building near 23rd and Dequincy street.
The car burst into flames, with a 2-year-old in the back seat.
“We never thought there was a person inside the car or even a baby in the back seat,” said Joel Najera Diaz.
But there was.
The five men, Diaz, Itamar Cerrato, Jonsin Najera, Jonathan Tinoco and Dany Tinoco were recording the whole time, including the moment when they decided to run toward the burning car and save the toddler.
“We didn’t think about a consequence if the car exploded. It was just natural. We saw her and we ran into it and tried to pull her out,” said Najera Diaz.
And it was only by chance Najera Diaz and the other men were even there at all.
He said he usually isn’t even at the business at that time.
He and the other men decided to stay late to clean up the shop and just happened to be there when the accident unfolded.
“Thank God we were in the right place in the right moment. Because what would happen if we weren’t here?” said Najera Diaz.
IMPD said the woman suffered burns and was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The 2-year-old was taken to Riley Hospital for Children and was not injured.
Many in the area are calling what the five men did a heroic act. Najera Diaz said it was just human nature.