Wichita officer helps pull women from burning car after driver crashes, runs

A Wichita police officer helped pull two women from a burning car after the driver crashed and ran away early Tuesday morning.

Wichita Police Department Officer Charley Davidson said the driver was heading west on Lincoln and turned north onto Bluff at around 12:20 a.m. on Tuesday. An officer saw the vehicle “accelerate rapidly” and turned around. The officer didn’t turn on his lights before the driver of the black Nissan Altima crashed into the concrete retaining wall on Bluff near Kellogg, Davidson said.

The driver ran from the crash.

Isaiah Carter, 25, was arrested nearby. Davidson said he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, three counts of aggravated battery, felon in possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and outstanding warrants.

By the time a second officer arrived at the accident, the Altima’s engine compartment had caught fire.

“A 37-year-old female front seat passenger and a 31-year-old female rear seat passenger were still in the vehicle, incapacitated from the crash. The second WPD officer pulled both passengers to safety,” Davidson said.

The women and a 31-year-old man who got out of the car on his own were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The fire was extinguished by the Wichita Fire Department. A handgun was found in the car and cocaine was found nearby, Davidson said.

Kansas Department of Corrections records show a 25-year-old Isaiah Carter with 2013 convictions in Sedgwick County for aggravated battery and endangering a child.