Pastor jumps into action to help Rush Springs officer stop escaping suspect

By Kilee Thomas

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    RUSH SPRINGS, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A Rush Springs officer was dragged by an escaping suspect this weekend when an unexpected hero jumped into action by what he called “divine intervention.”

“The whole time, my body is saying, ‘You’re going to die. You’re going to hurt yourself,’ but something in me said, ‘Help him. Help him. Help him,'” said Pastor Tom Lemke with the Rush Springs First Assembly.

Lemke said he isn’t a hero, but the Rush Springs Police Department said he likely saved a life.

On Saturday, an officer was engaged in a traffic stop in a church parking lot when a woman with a suspended license took an officer’s kindness as a chance to escape.

“He was doing his inventory on the vehicle and heard his air horn go off and saw the woman coming through the window — coming through on the cage,” said Rush Springs police Chief Chuck Clampitt.

The officer cracked the window a few inches to let some cool air in. The 21-year-old suspect slipped her out of the handcuffs, pulled the sliding glass and crawled through the 12-by-12-inch window.

“I was in that second bay over there, and I saw what was happening,” said Lemke. “I kind of heard like a scuffle. I was underneath a vehicle, and as I came up from underneath the vehicle, I saw the officer get drug backwards.”

With no time to think, the pastor took off running.

“I got to go help. I don’t know why,” said Lemke.

The pastor ran in front of the car to get to the passenger’s side as it lunged into the brick wall, nearly smashing him.

“The car hit me, and I went up over the car. It was the first time it bounced into our sign,” said Lemke. “Some of the neighbors came over, and we drug her out, and we held her down on the ground so the officer could get the cuffs back on her.”

Police said Rush Springs’ small-town comradery spared a life.

“We’re just thankful. We’re lucky that we have people in our town that see that and come and help,” said Clampitt.

“There was a God-ordained reason for me to be out here,” said Lemke.

The driver hasn’t yet been charged. She was arrested on counts of eluding police, as well as assault and battery with a deadly weapon on an officer.

The driver also faces felonies in Pittsburg County for a similar crime.

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