WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Ill. (KFVS/Gray News) – An expectant mother in Illinois called 911 in a panic, saying her car wouldn’t stop. Deputies are being hailed as heroes for saving her from the scary situation.
A panicked 911 call came into the Williamson County Dispatch Center just before 2 a.m. Monday. A young woman was on her way to pick up her boyfriend from work when the brakes stopped working on her car, KFVS reports.
911 Dispatch: “911. Where is your emergency?”
Caller: “I need help! My brakes won’t stop! My car won’t stop! My brakes aren’t working!”
The driver couldn’t get the car’s engine to turn off. She also told the dispatcher that she was pregnant.
Caller: “I’m 20 weeks pregnant. I cannot die today.”
Deputies raced to a rural area of the county and found the car on Old Route 13, a road that comes to a dead end at Crab Orchard Lake. They reported the brake lights on the driver’s car were visible, but it was not slowing down.
Caller: “I’m trying to hit the break as hard as I can, and it won’t stop.”
Since it wasn’t safe for the woman to keep driving, deputies decided to conduct a rolling roadblock. Sheriff Jeff Diederich says it “allowed them to get in front of the vehicle, gently apply the breaks and slowly make contact with the front of the vehicle that was out of control and then bring it to a complete stop.”
Even as the rescue took place, the driver remained panicked, with dispatch stepping in to comfort her.
Caller: “I’m gonna hit the cop! I’m gonna hit him! I didn’t mean to!”
911 Dispatch: “Ma’am, it’s OK. They know.”
The car was reportedly stopped approximately 1/4 of a mile before reaching the lake.
Diederich says the car was moving at about 30 miles an hour, and without the heroic actions taken by his deputies, the driver would have plunged into the cold water.
“As we know, the weather this time of year is very cold. That could have had dire consequences, so I’m very proud of the fact that the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded, that they were in a position to respond quickly and that nobody was injured,” he said.
As frightening as the incident was, the sheriff says the driver was not injured. An ambulance crew checked her out out of an abundance of caution.
The sheriff’s office says their patrol unit did not have any damage, and there was minor damage to the runaway car. The latter vehicle is being inspected to find out what caused the incident.
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