Nowata Officer Aids Injured, Trapped Oologah Officer During Chase

<p>Many are thanking a Nowata police officer for coming to the aid and saving the life on an Oologah officer shot during a pursuit.</p>

Friday, May 29th 2015, 11:29 pm

By: News On 6

Nowata Officer Aids Injured, Trapped Oologah Officer During Chase

An Oologah police officer is in a Tulsa hospital, recovering, after being shot during a pursuit in Nowata County Thursday night.

A nearby driver took cell phone video after he pulled up to a carjacking scene in south Coffeyville, Kansas, then saw officers with guns drawn and a man covered in blood.

The victim, David Henderson, was shot in the neck and had his pickup stolen.

Minutes before that, the man suspected of shooting Henderson was one of the three people suspected of leading Oologah and Talala officers on a chase.

One bullet grazed Oologah Officer Charles Neill in the head. He then lost control of his squad car which landed upside down alongside Highway 169.

After Neill's crash, police say the suspect driver and two passengers ditched a vehicle then ran into the woods.

Officers caught Cesar Rios and Roxanne Mendoza Thursday night. Early Friday morning, Montgomery County, Kansas, deputies found Alejandro Garcia hiding in the closet of a home near Liberty.

The officer that was hit survived and many thank Nowata Police Officer, Sabrina Lee, for helping save Neill's life.

Lee said she's never met Neill and still can't describe what he looks like. She said knowing he was a human being in need was all that mattered.

Getting out of his battered car alive following a high-speed chase is one thing, but making it out of the car with a gunshot wound to the head is a miracle Oologah Officer Charles Neill lives to tell.

A part of his survival rested on the actions of Nowata Officer Sabrina Lee.

“It was mass chaos. My first impression was ‘I need to get to him,' it didn't matter about the pursuit anymore,” she said.

Lee was one of the officers chasing the trio of suspects, but in the chaos she let the rest of the officers continue so she could rescue Neill.

With the patrol car on its hood, crumpled and already catching fire, Lee crawled in to pull him out.

"At the time I didn't even know if he was still alive, or how long he was gonna be alive. The car was catching fire, so my thought was just to get him out and go from there," she said.

Lee said it didn't matter that she didn't know Neill, all that matters is that he's alive.

"When something happens to your brother or sisters you don't even think twice; you know where you're going," she said.

For five years, members of Boy Scout troop 250 have known Neill. They said they're thankful for Lee's actions and are praying for Neill's recovery.

"This morning we just felt like the right thing to do was to show these boys how necessary it was to come together to support the greats in this community," Kristina Johnston said.

A great who can thank another great for helping pull him out of the crashed car alive.

Lee said while trying to get Neill out on her own, former Nowata police officer, Billy Scott, pulled over and helped.

She said Scott helped safely maneuvered Neill through the broken glass and crumpled car, then got her what she needed to stop Neill's bleeding before paramedics arrived.