Cop cuts seatbelt to rescue boy from a burning car

Chicago Police Officers Ramon Curet (left) and Raul Sandoval | Mitch Dudek / Sun-Times

It was just a matter of time before the knife Chicago Police Officer Raul Sandoval carries with him came in handy in a big way.

In his two years on the job, it had mostly been used to pry off a variety of stubborn lids.

But Friday, Sandoval used the knife to cut the seatbelt off a boy who was trapped in a burning car.

It was around 3 a.m. Nov. 8 when Sandoval, 28, and his partner, Officer Ramon Curet, 26, were the first to arrive on the scene of a crash at Cicero Avenue and Washington Street on the West Side.

“From a block away we were able to see the fire. As we got closer we were able to see the car was flipped over,” Sandoval said at a news conference Thursday at the Austin District police station.

A crowd had formed around the Toyota Corolla. It’s upturned undercarriage was ablaze. Someone was trapped inside, they said.

While Curet helped other injured passengers, Sandoval went to check inside of the burning car.

A man who’d been driving a Range Rover that was also involved in the crash was trying unsuccessfully to free the boy.

Sandoval crawled through the car’s broken rear window.

“The boy was screaming. He was dangling and squirming,” Sandoval said.

Worried the car might explode, he opened his folding knife and made quick work of slicing the seatbelt and freeing the boy.

Officer Raul Sandoval displays the knife he used to free a boy from a burning car.

“We were just glad that we were OK and we were able to save someone,” Curet said.

The boy, who was about 10 years old, and his two siblings and parents were treated at Stroger Hospital and released within hours.

Sandoval suffered a minor cut to a hand but refused medical treatment.

“I’m humbled by the opportunity to be here and the recognition, but I feel like this is the job that we put ourselves forward to do,” Sandoval said. “It’s another day on the job.”