By Phil Anderson
Topeka Capital-Journal
TOPEKA, Kan. — A 26-year-old man took swift action Friday morning after hearing the sound of two cars colliding outside of his parents’ central Topeka home, an accident in which two people were injured.
The man, Joshua Greer, ran outside of his parents’ home at 1246 S.W. Wayne to see what happened after he heard what sounded like a “big bomb” going off.
The accident, which occurred about 11 a.m. at S.W. Huntoon and Wayne, sent a dark blue Chrysler PT Cruiser onto its passenger side, while a four-door gray Oldsmobile sustained front-end damage.
As he was rushing to the accident scene, Greer said he heard a woman calling for help and a small child crying from inside the PT Cruiser. The woman was the grandmother of the child, authorities said.
Greer said he broke out the PT Cruiser’s rear window and was able to get the child out of the car. The child was buckled in a car seat and didn’t appear to suffer major injuries, Greer said.
Meanwhile, several others helped him pull the shattered windshield from the front of the PT Cruiser so they had better access to the female driver of the car, who also was wearing her seat belt.
Before he helped pull the woman out of the car, Greer said, “I asked if her arm or leg was broken, and she said ‘no.’ She gave me the OK to move her.”
The woman and child were taken by American Medical Response ambulance to a local hospital for observation. Their injuries weren’t considered life-threatening, police said.
The female driver of the Oldsmobile, meanwhile, was reported uninjured.
Each vehicle had a dog inside it at the time of the crash, and neither animal was hurt.
Greer said he didn’t hesitate to help get the two people out of the PT Cruiser.
“It was instinct,” he said. “I think anyone would do it - any good citizen.”
Police Cpl. Louis Cortez said the crash occurred when the PT Cruiser, which was eastbound on S.W. Huntoon, collided with the Oldsmobile, which was southbound on S.W. Wayne.
A one-way eastbound street, S.W. Huntoon is a through-street at the intersection, while S.W. Wayne has stop signs for north- and southbound traffic.
Cortez said the Oldsmobile failed to yield right of way, striking the rear of the PT Cruiser. The collision caused the PT Cruiser to spin into the curb on the southeast corner of the intersection and turn onto its passenger side.
The Oldsmobile came to a stop on S.W. Wayne just south of S.W. Huntoon.
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