A Carson City man who witnessed a rollover accident Tuesday ran to the rescue, lifting the end of a mangled Bronco so another passerby could pull the passenger pinned beneath it to safety, a deputy said.
Adam Brendel, 32, was eastbound on Snyder Avenue behind a Bronco just after
6 p.m. when a Grand Am pulled out from the stop sign at Silver Sage, clipping the rear of the Bronco, he said.
Brendel said the Bronco skidded then rolled over, ejecting the driver.
"He must have flown 10 feet in the air," he said.
Brendel said the Bronco rolled at least once more and came to rest on its roof with the passenger pinned beneath it.
"I threw my truck up in park and I ran over with another guy who stopped, I think he was from Idaho. I grabbed the rear end and lifted and the other guy grabbed the victim and pulled him out," he said. "I'd say any vehicle's heavy, but at that point it's the whole flight or fight thing. You just got to do what you've got to do."
Deputy Mike Fischer noted that the Silver Sage intersection is at an angle, and that, coupled with glare from the late afternoon sun dipping behind the west mountains, likely contributed to the accident.
The 16-year-old driver of the Grand Am will be cited, he said. One of the men in the Bronco was taken from the scene by helicopter. The other victim was taken to Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, then flown to the trauma center at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.
The victims' names and conditions were not released.