Bodycam Shows Douglas County Deputy Smashing Smoke-Filled SUV to Rescue Hank

Deputy Michael Gregorek of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office smashed a passenger-side window and the rear windshield with a retractable baton and reached into a smoke-filled SUV to pull a dog named Hank to safety, bodycam footage released by the sheriff’s office shows.

The footage, taken during an incident in a Douglas County neighborhood on Jan. 22, 2022, was posted publicly and circulated widely online. A PoliceActivity repost of the sheriff’s office bodycam on YouTube was uploaded Feb. 4, 2022, and the repost recorded 747,505 views, 36,816 likes and 3,311 comments in the provided metadata; the sheriff’s office also shared the clip on Facebook where local users engaged with the video.

The video captures the moments leading up to the rescue: Gregorek arriving to find an SUV with smoke billowing and a distressed man near the vehicle. Gregorek described the owner’s actions in a recorded interview: “Once I arrived on scene, the first thing I see is a gentleman, who ended up being the owner of the dog, throwing something at the back of the vehicle,” Deputy Michael Gregorek said. The bodycam then shows the owner leaning toward a rear window and trying to pull Hank free before being overwhelmed by black smoke and stepping back while yelling “Omigod!”

Gregorek produces a retractable baton and smashes a side/passenger window and the vehicle’s back window to gain access. The footage shows the deputy reaching into the smoking interior, pulling Hank free with obvious effort, carrying the dog to a patch of snow and dropping him there. The video shows Gregorek coughing intensely after the rescue, suggestive of smoke inhalation, though no formal treatment or medical transport is included in the released footage.

A veterinarian who lives in the neighborhood checked Hank on scene, and the video notes that Hank “appeared uninjured” and “didn’t take long for him to be running around in the snow again.” The materials shared online do not identify the veterinarian by name or provide a medical report.

Public reaction on the sheriff’s office Facebook post included praise for Gregorek’s actions and questions about the circumstances that left Hank inside the vehicle. One Facebook commenter wrote, “First off, why is the dog locked in the car? If the owner got out why didn't he pull the dog out then with him? If the doors somehow locked on that car, why didn't he break a window instead of waiting for the cop.”

The sheriff’s office release available with the bodycam footage provides the visual record of the rescue but does not include a written statement in the materials reviewed that identifies the dog owner, the neighborhood veterinarian, the cause of the vehicle smoke, or whether Deputy Gregorek required medical treatment after coughing on scene. Those details remain unconfirmed in the released materials; county records or an official written statement would be needed to establish cause, any follow-up actions, and whether citations or fire department findings followed the Jan. 22, 2022 incident.