NYPD, state troopers rescue three from burning car in Queens crash

NYPD officers and New York State troopers raced through a split-second rescue chain on the eastbound Grand Central Parkway, using a fire extinguisher, breaking windows and hauling three trapped passengers out of a car that had struck a tree and was engulfed in flames.

The crash happened just after 1 a.m. on March 22 in Queens. Police body-camera footage released by the NYPD shows troopers patrolling the roadway spotting the burning vehicle, then joining officers in trying to knock down the fire before turning to forced entry to reach the people inside. One by one, the trapped passengers were pulled free as flames consumed the car.

The driver, identified as 20-year-old Mohammad Haque, got out on his own and was taken to a hospital along with the three passengers. Police said all four people in the vehicle were transported for treatment after the crash.

Haque was arrested in connection with the collision and arraigned on April 16. The charges reported include three counts of assault, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree reckless endangerment.

The footage makes plain how little time officers had to act once they found the car. A fire extinguisher was not enough to stop the blaze, and the rescue turned on the officers’ ability to move immediately from suppression to extraction. That sequence, captured on body cameras, showed how roadside response can depend on training, proximity and the willingness to take direct action before a fire spreads further.

In a post accompanying the video, the NYPD called the rescue a “collaborative effort” that “saved lives.” The scene also underscores the growing public record of emergency police work in the body-camera era, where decisions made in a few seconds can be replayed in full as investigators, prosecutors and the public assess how officers responded under extreme pressure.