Video shows trooper, citizen save man from fiery crash

MOUNT GILEAD, Ohio (WJW) — A dramatic video released to the Fox 8 I-Team shows strangers teaming up as heroes, saving a life after a fiery crash.

Around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Robert Myers responded to a wrong-way crash on Interstate 71 in Morrow County. When he arrived at the scene he saw two vehicles that were involved. One was still on fire.

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The trooper grabbed a fire extinguisher from the trunk of his cruiser and ran toward the burning vehicle.

A citizen who stopped to help told the trooper a man was stuck in the vehicle. The trooper and the citizen were able to get Salvador Castaneda out of the car.

Tragically, four people died in the crash. This case is still under investigation.

So far, investigators have determined that 32-year-old Larry Dotson from Canton was driving an SUV in the wrong direction on I-71 when he caused a head-on collision with a jeep.

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The crash killed Dotson and his passenger, 32-year-old Marlee Middleton of Massillon, troopers said.

According to crash investigators, Dotson crashed into the vehicle driven by 26-year-old Castaneda of Columbus.

Two passengers in Castaneda’s jeep, 31-year-old Cristal Galloso Olvera and 50 year-old-Ivonne Olvera, were also killed.

Castaneda was the only survivor.

“Their actions were lifesaving. They were heroic. It was courageous,” Sgt. Tyler Ross said, noting that Myers and the citizen risked their own lives to help get the victim out of the car. “The concerned citizen that stopped to help, we can’t thank him enough. Roadway safety is a shared responsibility and this is a perfect example of that. If it wasn’t for that citizen and that troopers response there is a good chance this could have resulted in five fatalities.”

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