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Pottstown Police Officer Rescues Trapped Woman From Train Tracks Just Before Impact


POTTSTOWN, Pa. (CBS) – A Pottstown officer pulled a woman to safety just moments before a train hit her vehicle.

The woman, who is from Sanatoga in Montgomery County, was a passenger in a car that became stuck on the train tracks at the South Hanover Street Crossing in Pottstown around 11 p.m. on Thursday night.

As the freight train approached the vehicle, the driver of the car, who is from Birdsboro, was able to get out, but her passenger remained trapped.

According to Pottstown police chief Richard Drumheller, officer Gregory Fritz, a 24-year veteran of the Pottstown police force, arrived on the scene within moments and pulled the woman to safety less than a minute before impact.

The train pushed the vehicle about two blocks to the Charlotte Street crossing before it was able to stop.

Drumheller says the car ended up on the tracks after the passenger gave the driver incorrect directions. The driver travelled about 60 feet along the tracks before the car became stuck.

Luckily, no one was injured during the accident.

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