Crime & Safety
Virginia Police Chiefs Group Honors Arlington Officer Who Rescued Man From Burning Car
An Arlington County Police officer was recognized for his heroic efforts in rescuing an injured man from a burning car in August 2020.
ARLINGON, VA — An Arlington County Police officer was recognized by the Virginia Association of Police Chiefs (VACP) for his heroic effort in removing a severely injured man from a burning vehicle at great personal risk in August 2020.
Officer Sean Poveda was one of the 53 police officers to receive 2020-21 Awards for Lifesaving originally presented Aug. 23 at VACP Annual Conference in Williamsburg. The awards recognized officers who put themselves at risk to save others from potentially life-threatening situations.
On Aug. 14, 2020, Poveda was one of the officers to respond to the report of shots being fired in the area of North Herndon Street and 13th Street North in Arlington, according to a VACP blog post.
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As Poveda was responding to the scene in his police cruiser, he noticed two vehicles coming from the area of the shooting, a Camaro and a Jeep Compass. After making a U-turn, he began a pursuit.
Both cars increased speed and ran red lights as they headed eastbound on 10th Street North. When the two cars reached Route 50, the Jeep Compass failed to make the turn toward the east and slammed into the jersey wall at the end of 10th Street.
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Stopping his cruiser, Poveda approached the car and found its one occupant suffering from unknown injuries that later proved to be extremely severe. The driver was incoherent and unable to remove himself from the car. In addition, a fire that had started in the Compass' engine was beginning to spread.
As other units began to arrive, Poveda pulled the driver from the burning car and dragged him to safety with the help of other officers.
"It is because of the swift, effective, brave, and selfless response of Officer Poveda that a life was saved that day," according to the VACP blog post.
Although the awards were handed out in August at the VACP conference, they weren't presented to the recipients until later.
On Thursday night, Arlington County Police Chief Charles Penn presented Poveda with his award.
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