UTMB police officer John Siverand had never met Roger Miller, a minimally invasive surgery coordinator, before the afternoon of April 23. Both men happened to be driving their separate vehicles down Broadway Street in Galveston after leaving campus when they witnessed a Ford F-150 veer off the road and hit a parked car. The truck flipped onto its side and smoke filled the air.
Instinctively, Siverand and Miller immediately pulled over to see how they could assist. A crowd began to gather around the crash site, although no one seemed to know exactly what to do.
As Miller got closer, he observed a woman standing up in the overturned truck, frantically trying to push one of the side doors open with no luck. Noticing smoke filling the cabin of the truck, Miller jumped on top of the vehicle that the truck had hit and saw Siverand approaching, wearing a UTMB police uniform.
“It was good to see Officer Siverand coming up,” said Miller. “I noticed that he was from UTMB. We looked at each other and John said, ‘We need to get the door open and get her out.’”
Siverand, who notified dispatch to send EMS to the location, recalled, “I could smell the smoke. We didn’t know what was going to happen – whether the truck was going to start on fire or not -- so we knew we had to get her out of there quickly.”
Miller took Siverand’s hand and helped him get on top of the woman’s truck. The door was stuck and wouldn’t open, so Siverand took out his baton and stuck it in a crack between the door and body of the vehicle. After a few tense moments, he eventually gained enough leverage to pry it open. Miller held the door open as Siverand pulled the woman out to safety. After being checked by medical personnel, the woman walked away with a few minor cuts and bruises.
Miller and Siverand walked away feeling good about teaming up and taking care of a situation that could have had a much different ending.
Siverand also noted that it was an opportunity to show police in a positive light, given the recent media coverage and negative portrayal of police officers around the country.
“There has been so much focus on deadly force situations around the country and we do so much more to support UTMB and the local community,” said Siverand. “We are supposed to serve and protect people, and that’s what we did.”
Siverand and Miller truly worked together to work wonders. Thank you both for your commitment to serving those in need!