VIDEO: Man snatched from vehicle moments before it bursts into flames

Authorities say a Las Vegas man is lucky to be alive after a fiery crash over the weekend -- and he has a complete stranger to thank.

The unidentified Good Samaritan was walking along the Vegas strip when a white sedan crashed into a palm tree in the center median, leaving the driver unconscious, according to Las Vegas Metro Police. As the man rushed to help the motorist, smoke began pouring out of the vehicle, says Officer Derek Stebbins, who arrived on the scene a few minutes later. He then joined the Samaritan in attempting to remove the unconscious man from the car. “The gentleman that was in the vehicle was leaning all the way over to the driver’s side of the vehicle so we weren’t able to pull him out,” Stebbins says. Fortunately, the Samaritan was able to reach across the unconscious man and unlock the driver’s door, according to a police report.

And it didn’t happen a moment too soon. Video taken by a witness shows the pair drag the victim out of the vehicle just as it explodes into flames. “If we weren’t there, I think he would have been burned in the vehicle,” Stebbins says. “Would he have died? I don’t know, but he would have suffered severe burns from how fast that vehicle caught fire.”

The victim, later identified as Alexander Dawkins, may have survived the crash, but he wasn’t so lucky with the police. He was arrested and charged with DUI, Stebbins says.

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