A police officer jumped into a moving car in Long Island last week to save a toddler from a vehicle being driven by a woman on drugs.
NBC New York reports that Suffolk County police officer Joe Goss spotted a woman driven at 20 mph on the Long Island Expressway with a toddler in the backseat. Suspecting that the woman of the slow-moving car was high on drugs, Goss jumped into action.
While in his patrol vehicle, Goss managed to slow the car of 37-year-old Maria Lagatta down to around 5 mph. He then jumped through the passenger side window of the car and shifted it into park.
Describing the scene, Goss said “I didn’t Superman into the car or anything like that.
I’m pretty tall so I was able to lean up. All I had to do was move one of my feet up, like a pool shot move. I was able to lean in, and so once I got my hand on it, her hand was on the shifter as well, so we just forced it right into park.”
After the ordeal, Lagatta was arrested for aggravated DWI with a child passenger 15 years or younger, while driving impaired by drugs and endangering the welfare of a child.
Lagatta’s 22-month-old daughter was later released by police to a relative.