‘Citizen heroes’ saved Atlanta officer after patrol car crashes, catches fire

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ATLANTA — Atlanta police are highlighting a group of “citizen heroes” they credit with saving the life of an injured officer.

Officer Malik Safi crashed his patrol car while responding to a call last month. He suffered serious injuries in the crash, which also caused the car and a house to catch fire.

Because of Safi’s injuries, he was trapped in the car.

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A homeowner and two neighbors who witnessed the crash rushed to help and got him out of the wreckage.

Atlanta police spoke with two of the people who rushed to the scene, brothers Keshun Robinson and Ryan Beck.

“We just went off our heart,” Beck said. “[It’s] how we were raised.”

The brothers and some other good Samaritans helped get Safi out of the car.

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But police say a gun in the car started going off, so they had to move Safi once again, while also dodging bullets.

“We just tried to comfort him and let him know that he wasn’t there by himself,” Robinson said.

Keziah Reed, the men’s mother, told police that she was proud of her sons and that they did what they had been taught to do: treat others how you want to be treated.

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