HOUSTON, TX - Two Harris County deputies, Rebecca Cruz and Jesse Leal were honored today after saving a man's life after he was seen dangling from a highway overpass on Sunday morning. A Houston man caught it all on camera.
It happened near the intersection of I-45 and Richey. A driver just happened to notice a man dangling from that overpass, so then he pulled out a camera to witness the rescue. Cell phone video taken by David Garcia shows what he saw on his drive in North Houston early Sunday morning.
"I was coming home from Galveston this morning and as soon as I came to the light I saw people under the bridge and I was wondering like what could be happening under the bridge why are people standing there, " said Garcia. " So I look up and I see a man dangling from over the sides and I'm like oh my God what's going to happen."
The man was seen slowly going over the edge. Luckily, good samaritans started gathering underneath to catch him just in case.
"He actually put his whole body over the side and they were trying to grab him and he came out of his shirt so I guess the cops came thank God the cops came because they pulled him by his pants they grabbed him by his pants and pulled him over."
The two Harris County Deputies Cruz and Leal were able to pull the man up to safety--and Garcia was able to capture the moment on his phone.
"That's like the best thing a cop could actually do like all the stuff that's going on with cops and stuff that's nothing compared to this he actually came out here and save somebody's life he actually could've, the dude could've died or hurt himself really bad and he actually save somebody's life today," Garcia said.
Sheriff Ed Gonzales sent us a statement earlier about what happened in those critical moments.
"Thanks to the quick actions of a Good Samaritan and Harris County Sheriff's Office Deputy's Cruz & Leal, they were able to assist a male in crisis. Their efforts prevented the male from either serious injury or death. I'm extremely proud and happy for the successful outcome."