On Sunday night, deputies with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office had to think fast to save a man whose head was about to be crushed underneath a flipped car.
“The vehicle was rolling to be flat upside down and his head was the pressure keeping it from rolling,” Jericho McIntyre said.
The single vehicle rollover crashed happened around 2 a.m. Sunday morning near Cove Walk and SR 44. The car lost control around a curve, jumped a curb, rolled multiple times and came to a rest upside down. One person was ejected and not injured. Another man was found pinned underneath the car.
“It was almost like his body was laying on the roof in the back of the car...his head was on the back pillar of the vehicle,” McIntyre said.
The first deputy on scene was TJ Indorato. Indorato said he saw the man pinned and ran over to brace the car to keep it from rolling.
“He was more grunting wanting the car off,” Indorato said. "Once I had my hands on the car I couldn't let go.”
Indorato used his cheek to call for help and let other responding deputies know the car could crush the man’s head in seconds. For nearly three minutes he waited and held the car up with all of the strength he could muster.
“Adrenaline was going,” Indorato said “You are just trying to get people there. I could hear the sirens from a distance, when they got on scene, it was pretty relieving getting the car off that person.”
The victim is expected to be OK.
