CHP OFFICER BADLY INJURED IN CRASH IS 13-YEAR VET, HERO

A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer badly injured in an Escondido crash earlier this week is a 13year agency veteran and Medal of Valor recipient, an honor earned for rescuing an unconscious man trapped in a burning car.

The CHP on Wednesday identified the officer, who was injured shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, as Officer Joseph Heightman.

The crash happened as Heightman rode his motorcycle east on West Via Rancho Parkway near Lomas Seranas Drive when a Nissan Rogue took a left turn directly into his path.

Heightman was thrown from the motorcycle in the crash, CHP Officer Salvador Castro said.

Castro said Heightman sustained major injuries.

In 2015, Heightman received the state’s Medal of Valor, specifically the Special Service Award, a silver medal given to state employees for acts of heroism.

The incident happened in Escondido mid-morning Oct. 30, 2011, and is described both in a citation on the state’s ca.gov website and a separate recounting of the tale on the state’s CHP website. It was also detailed in a Union-Tribune story the day after the rescue.

Heightman was on his motorcycle, exiting Interstate 15 at Del Lago when someone flagged him down. A driver had had a seizure and his car had plowed through a fence and into a post.

The 26-year-old driver was still having a seizure when Heightman crawled into the car, stabilized the driver’s head and neck, and opened his airway. Then the car started to catch fire.

The officer fished out his pocketknife and sliced through the driver’s seat belt, which was jammed.

But the driver’s legs were trapped under the steering column. As blinding smoke filled the car, Heightman reached over and felt around until he found and released the steering wheel adjustment handle. He pulled the driver clear just before flames swallowed the vehicle.

“There’s a good chance he (the driver) wouldn’t have survived if (the officer) hadn’t been there to rescue him,” an Escondido police officer told the U-T.