A Knox City Police officer and a Knox fireman are being hailed as heroes after they freed occupants of a overturned car in a deep ditch filled with water.
On Saturday afternoon, the Starke County Sheriff’s Department received a call of a traffic accident on State Road 8 near 200 East. The caller stated he was following his wife, Tessa J. Haney, when her vehicle hit a patch of ice and she lost control of the vehicle. It landed on its top in a deep ditch on the south side of the roadway with water filling the car.
The 9-1-1 Center quickly dispatched emergency personnel however, there were so many accidents and county officers covering those calls, a Knox City Police officer, Chad Dulin, responded to the scene. Dulin, along with Knox-Center Township Firefighter, Wayne Noah, descended into the icy waters and attempted to gain access to the trapped victims. They were able to break out the rear window of the vehicle and freed Haney’s two-year-old daughter, Jocelyn. The Knox Fire Department then arrived on scene and firefighters had to use extrication equipment to free Tessa Haney. Tessa and her daughter were taken to IU Health Starke Hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries.
If it wasn’t for the swift response of the officer and the fireman, the accident could have turned fatal.
