A Grand Island man rescued from a burning vehicle is now facing charges for the moments leading up to the crash. Fabian Blanco, 45, is charged in Hall County Court for failure to stop and render aid, DUI and willful reckless driving. The failure to stop and render aid is the only felony of the three.
The charges come after police said Blanco was driving on 3rd Street Monday night when he sideswiped another vehicle. Police said a 77-year-old man was injured but not seriously. Blancoโs vehicle continued westbound and eventually ended up near Blaine and Koenig. According to Grand Island police, his vehicle ran into a power pole, spun around into a fence and nearly hit a home.
The Grand Island Police Department released dramatic video from two police body cameras as well as dash cam video. Division Chief Dean Elliott said officers attempted to break the windows because the doors were locked, and some of the doors were pinned shut because of the severity of the damage to the front of the vehicle.
โOfficers arrived on scene a short time later, finding the front end of the vehicle fully engulfed in flames,โ Elliott said. โAs they approached the vehicle, other citizens had tried to extinguish the flames with fire extinguishers to no avail.โ
Homeowner Geo Bellairs first heard the crash from inside his house. โI thought, well, that was pretty close and pretty loud. I thought maybe I better check it out and see whatโs happening,โ Bellairs said. โSo I went to the back door and I saw a rear end of a car close to the back door. And then I saw smoke and a little fire.โ
Due to the amount of smoke inside the vehicle, first responders could not identify how many passengers were inside. First responders broke the driverโs side window to find and remove an unconscious man.
They were able to drag him out of the window and to safety. โOur first inclination is to make those rescues and to protect the public along those lines there,โ Elliott said. โEverything else becomes secondary. You know, if thereโs an arrest that needs to be made or charges that need to be filed, thatโs all secondary. The first and foremost thing is protection of life.โ
