Hero truck driver pulls drunk from car wreck... then gets straight back to work

Alex Mitchell was in the middle of his Friday morning delivery shift when he saw the crash along the side of the Long Island Expressway

He pulled his gasoline tanker to the side of the highway and pulled John Boisseau from the scorched wreckage, saving his life

Mr Mitchell then hopped in his truck and finished his delivery runs, ending at 3pm



A heroic truck driver saved a drunk driver from certain death early Friday morning after pulling him from under the burning wreckage of his SUV on the side of the Long Island Expressway before finishing his delivery shift.



Alex Mitchell, 37, of Ozone Park, NY, pulled his gasoline tanker to the side of the busy 10 lane highway after seeing a crashed SUV catch fire just after 2am. A quick search led to him finding the driver, who he pulled to safety.

Drunk driver John Boisseau, 37, of Sound Beach, was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries before being released later in the day to be charged with driving while intoxicated.

He's a hero!: Alex Mitchell saved the life of drunk driver John Boisseau when he pulled him out from under the burning wreckage of his crashed SUV

Seeing the dire situation, Mr Mitchell knew he had to act – he immediately pulled to the side of the road and began his own search and rescue operation while emergency responders and police sped to the scene.

‘I was like, 'Is anybody there? Can anybody hear me?' he recalled to Newsday .

‘I didn’t see anyone back there so I ran around the other side because my view was being blocked by a tree,’ Mr Mitchell recalled to CBS New York.

‘Next thing, I went around and noticed he was basically lying under the vehicle with flames going and everything,’ he continued.

Scorched: Mr Boisseau's SUV was completely engulfed in flames just seconds after he was pulled away

Engulfed in flames: This cloud of smoke still poured from the SUV even after firefighters began extinguishing the flames

The brave samaritan pulled the boozed-up Mr Boisseau out from under the burning 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe just before the flames would have gotten to him, according to CBS New York .

Emergency crews soon arrived on the scene to extinguish the charred Chevy – just after two tires exploded from the flames, Mr Mitchell told Newsday

Mr Boisseau lost control of his vehicle in Brentwood (about 40 miles east of Manhattan), veered of the major east-west artery and struck a tree at about 2am, officials said.

The collision ejected him from the SUV, but the mackered motorist somehow ended up beneath the smoldering vehicle, according to officials.

Alcohol was involved: Mr Boisseau was charged with drunk driving after being released from a local hospital

Fully engulfed with flames and with a giant cloud of smoke towering over the highway, the crash scene was easily spotted by Mr Mitchell – who dialled 911 with one hand as he rescued the trapped man with the other, according to Newsday.

Mr Boisseau’s injuries were non-life-threatening, police said.

Mr Mitchell’s family couldn’t have been prouder.

‘My son's a hero!’ His proud mother boasted to Newsday.

Soon after speaking with police and reporters, Mr Mitchell jumped in his truck to finish his shift - 12 hours later.