ORONO, Maine — A young man from New York is the recipient of a Courageous Citizens Award from the Orono Police Department.
In December, Joe Cali was passing a car on Bennoch Road, which was traveling erratically and at a low rate of speed. When Cali glanced over at the driver, he noticed a man was slumped over the wheel.
Police said thinking quickly, Cali ran to the moving vehicle to try and wake the unconscious driver. When he couldn’t, Cali grabbed a tool from his car and broke out the back passenger window.
He then unlocked the front driver’s door and steered the vehicle safely off the road, stopping the vehicle and removing the man until EMTs arrived.
Police said what the young man did next was courageous.
"He made the first attempt and realized that his car was actually in the path of the vehicles so he ran back to his car and moved it forward a little further and then made the decision at that point to break into the vehicle to stop the car," said Orono Police Chief Josh Ewing.
Ewing was asked what would have happened if he didn’t stop it? " Anything could have happened," Ewing said. "It could have drifted into the oncoming lane with traffic that wasn't aware of what was happening. It could have driven off the road but the likelihood of an accident was certain."
"I know plenty of other people that would have done the exact same thing as in my situation," Cali said. "It was more of just doing something that needed to be done and stop a potentially dangerous situation from getting worse."
Cali said there were others involved that day too. He said people who witnessed what was going on called 911, and EMTs were able to get there in time to save the man's life.
Joe Cali is a senior at the University of Maine and part of the Army R.O.T.C. program.