Campus Police officers played a key role in rescuing a woman trapped in her car after a three-car accident on Memorial Drive near Massachusetts Avenue last Wednesday. Media reports credited only the State Police for the rescue.
MIT Police Officer William C. Smith, the first to reach the scene near 362 Memorial Drive, saw the injured woman trapped beneath a 1998 Toyota Camry, whose engine was running and smoking. Officers Clarence A. Henniger, Louis C. Rosa, Bennett Chin and Barbara A. Haven also responded, joining state troopers and Cambridge firefighters at the scene.
While several officers and troopers lifted the car, Officer Smith placed a fire extinguisher under the vehicle for support and crawled toward the victim, a 59-year-old Cambridge woman. Aided by Officer Chin and a trooper, he extricated her. "She was conscious and talking to me when we got her out of the car," Officer Smith said. "Thank God we got her out."
The woman was taken to Mt. Auburn Hospital. Officers Smith and Haven and State Trooper Phil David were treated at Massachusetts General Hospital. All five MIT officers received commendations for their efforts.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 15, 2000.
