WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Rhodes on Fatal Veterans Parkway Crash

Rhodes on Fatal Veterans Parkway Crash

WTOC was first on the scene at Wednesday's fatal wreck that shut down part of Veterans Parkway. While on the scene, we found a well-known, off-duty, Savannah-Chatham police officer who helped save another life. Sgt. Todd Rhodes was just trying to get home Wednesday night when he came up on the blazing wreck.

"The bed of the truck was on top of the guard railing, but the cab of the truck was upside down and it was on fire," said Rhodes.

He and a couple paramedics from Liberty County who also happened to be passing by immediately got to work. "Nt really a whole lot to think about, you just respond," said Rhodes.

They quickly got the driver, Alejandro Mora, out of the car. He was barely hurt. But unfortunately, his passenger, Benito Garcia, was.

"We grabbed fire extinguishers, trying to put out the fire to at least keep it down to a low roar so we could get the other occupant out," recalled Rhodes.

Before they could do that, though, Garcia had already died. Now Mora's in jail, charged with drunk driving, speeding, and vehicular homicide.

Rhodes says he wished they could have done more to help Garcia, but he's glad they were able to save Mora. "When it does happen, we do have an obligation to stop and assist and help."

Police say Mora and Garcia are illegal immigrants. This was the third fatal wreck in Chatham County in 12 days involving illegal immigrants. The other two wrecks happened in Garden City.

Reported by: Chris Cowperthwaite, ccowperthwaite@wtoc.com