Three law officers in Washington Parish are being praised for their quick action to save two lives in what the sheriff's office calls a "heart-pounding incident" Wednesday night.
According to the Washington Parish Sheriff's Office, Sgt. John O'Hern responded to a dispatch of a car overturned in a body of water around 7:40 p.m. At the scene, he discovered there were occupants trapped inside the vehicle.
"Undeterred by the challenging circumstances, Sergeant O’Hern persisted in his attempts to reach the victims," the sheriff's office said in a Facebook post. "It was during this critical moment that officers from the Franklinton Police Department, Johnathan Leche and Sergeant Larry Johnson, arrived at the scene to offer their assistance."
Upon realizing getting the people out of the car's doors in this situation was not possible, Sgt. O'Hern and Sgt. Johnson managed to lift the vehicle to the point that Officer Leche could then get in and remove the two passengers from the rear seat.
After getting the two ashore, they informed the officers that there was one more person trapped inside the vehicle. The officers managed to right the overturned vehicle and retrieved the third occupant.
One of the occupants, 44-year-old Bobby Harriel of Ruth, Mississippi, was not wearing his seatbelt and suffered severe injuries. He died after being taken to a nearby hospital.
Despite that tragedy, Washington Parish Sheriff's Office Sgt. John O'Hern, and Sgt. Larry Johnson and Officer Johnathan Leche of the Franklinton Police Department are credited with saving the lives of the two others, and are being praised for their "selflessness and unwavering courage in the face of adversity."
