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Video: Officer pulls unconscious driver from burning car

The driver was doing doughnuts in a parking lot and hit an air-conditioning unit

Associated Press

URBANDALE, Iowa — An Iowa police officer has rescued an unconscious driver by pulling him from his burning car.

Urbandale police spokesman Randy Peterson said Tuesday that Officer Zac McDowell wasn’t injured Sunday night when he saved 18-year-old Ian Waseskuk (wa-SEHS'-kuh). The officer’s dashboard camera shows McDowell opening the car’s passenger door, reaching in and grabbing Waseskuk to pull him away from the flames.

Police say Waseskuk was driving in circles, doing “doughnuts,” in a church parking lot across from his home in suburban Des Moines when his car hit an air conditioning unit.

Peterson says Waseskuk will be charged with misdemeanor reckless driving when he leaves Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. Hospital spokesman Gregg Lagan (LAY'-guhn) says Waseskuk is in fair but stable condition.