Streamwood officer honored for stopping runaway car, saving driver
A heroic scene rivaling the most famous action sequences in Hollywood history unfolded on a quiet Streamwood street one morning in August.
And Streamwood officials recognized the leading man of that scene -- police officer Daniel Spychalski -- by presenting him with a Life Saving Award this week.
Spychalski, a nine-year Streamwood police veteran, was conducting a typical traffic stop on Park Avenue a few blocks south of the Poplar Creek Library on Aug. 2.
That's when he noticed a northbound SUV heading toward him from a block away. It was traveling slowly with a woman running alongside and shouting at the driver.
"I thought I had a rolling domestic (dispute)," Spychalski said, believing an argument was in progress.
He told the woman he'd stopped to pull into a driveway and ran toward the oncoming vehicle.
Spychalski then saw another person running on the other side of the SUV, also trying to get the attention of the unconscious man in the driver's seat.
As the car approached Lacy Avenue -- and oncoming traffic -- Spychalski tried to get inside it, but all the doors were locked and windows sealed.
So he pulled out his police baton and smashed out the window behind the driver. He then unlocked the door and jumped inside.
The SUV had jumped the curb just south of Lacy Avenue when Spychalski was able to reach forward and put the vehicle in park.
Seeing the unconscious man's shallow breathing, Spychalski reclined the driver's seat to make him more comfortable. He called for an ambulance and then found a cell phone in the SUV, with which he called the victim's family.
Ten or 15 minutes later, with the man who apparently had suffered a stroke on his way to the hospital, Spychalski finally was able to return to his traffic stop.
The incident happened to occur the morning of his first day shift after a year working nights.
It was only after he'd filed his report and others began congratulating him on his quick thinking that the events of the morning sank in.
"In the moment, I thought nothing of it," Spychalski said. "I honestly believe if it wasn't me, it would have been another of my fellow officers doing exactly the same thing."
Streamwood Police Chief Alan Popp said the courage and modesty of officers like Spychalski are why he feels so privileged to work where he does.
"We can sit and think about these things, but we know they happen in a split second," Popp said.
The driver of the vehicle -- a 67-year-old Roselle man whom officials did not name -- did recover from his medical emergency and intended to be at the award presentation. However, an unrelated health problem kept him from being there, Popp said.