An act of humanity
Lodi officer recalls pulling handicapped man from tracks
Officer Erika Urrea doesn’t consider herself a hero, and said what she did Wednesday morning was something her fellow Lodi Police Department officers would have done.
The 14-year veteran of the department rescued a 66-yearold man from death that morning when she pulled him from a wheelchair that became stuck on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks at Lodi Avenue.
“It’s one of those situations where, if one of my family members had been stuck, or needed help, I would hope that someone would stop and help them,” she said. “And this was one of those situations where someone needed help, so I stopped and helped. It is part of our job, but it’s just part of being human.”
Urrea said that she was driving east on Lodi Avenue checking patrol calls when she saw someone sitting on the tracks out of the corner of her eye.
She said she saw the man in his wheelchair, and as she drove by, it seemed like he was wiggling and stuck on the tracks. As she turned around to help him, the railroad arms began to lower, so she pulled over and ran toward him to get the chair free,
“I had initially looked to see where the train was coming from, and at that point in time, it seemed like I had a little bit of distance,” she said. “I wasn’t able to free the wheelchair, so I was telling him to get up, and as I’m talking to him, I see the train, and it’s coming pretty fast, so I just kinda grabbed his arm and pulled him.”
She and the man were both knocked backward, and Urrea said she heard a sound that made it seem like the train hit something. She thought she was unable to get him from the tracks, but when she got back to her feet and turned around, the man was still there.
She rushed toward him again and attempted to pull him further from the track in case he rolled closer to the moving train, she said. Urrea said watching the bodycam footage the police department released late Wednesday was interesting.
“The only thing going through my mind was that I had to get him off the tracks,” she said. “Watching the (bodycam footage), it seemed very surreal. It’s almost like I’m watching someone else’s video. In stressful situations like that, you’re senses seem like they’re heightened and your adrenaline’s going. I was thinking back like ‘it felt like the train was right in my face.’ Looking at the video, it practically was right in my face.”
Urrea said it took a while to settle down and realize what had just occurred, but noted it was an instance where one is just going through the motions to get a person to safety.
She said she has not been able to speak with the man, who suffered severe injuries to his legs and was taken to an area hospital, where he was listed in critical yet stable condition as of Wednesday.
She said she hopes he will
“And this was one of those situations where someone needed help, so I stopped and helped. It is part of our job, but it’s just part of being human.” Officer Erika Urrea on saving a man from an oncoming train
be able to recover.
Lodi Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Alegre responded to the scene after Urrea requested paramedics. He said after watching the bodycam footage, it looked as if the man’s legs somehow became tangled in the wheelchair, which prevented Urrea from pulling him completely from the seat.
According to Lodi Police Department, the train did make contact with the chair, resulting in the man’s injuries.
“When I arrived with my crew, the chair was about 40 yards down the track,” he said. “And I as I walked towards it, I could see the chair was just completely mangled. She literally yanked him out of there at the last minute.”
Lodi resident Bob Sorensen was driving in the area with his son seconds before Urrea pulled the man from the tracks.
The pair were driving west on Lodi Avenue and saw the man on the track, but Sorensen said it looked like he was simply staring due north, and the railroad arms had not yet begun lowering.
They passed a patrol cruiser headed east, which Sorensen said was probably Urrea. By the time he and his son reached School Street, the arm guards were down and lights were flashing, but they couldn’t tell what was going on.
Two emergency vehicles passed them on their way to Hutchins Street, and they turned around to see what was happening.
“I was relieved to hear that a police woman had pulled him from the tracks,” he said. “You think about that kind of stuff afterward. If that guy got killed, I think I would have felt responsible. What a tribute to the Lodi Police Department that officer is.”
Urrea said officers never think about being involved in large-scale, heroic incidents, and that she was simply doing her job as a member of the police department.
“I can’t recall a situation like this that happened just that fast,” she said. “That’s the interesting thing about the job. You just never know. You just hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Earlier in the day, things were fine, and you’re just cruising along. That’s just how fast things can change in the job.”