Holbrook officers free driver from burning Jeep as his foot catches fire

Three Holbrook police officers got a trapped driver out of a burning Jeep alive. The longer aftermath is still unsettled: the 37-year-old man is expected to recover, but his later condition has not been confirmed, and the four offenses police intend to pursue have not yet resulted in a court-issued criminal complaint. The rescue was completed within a minute of the officers’ arrival, police said. ¹

The crash happened early Sunday, October 25, 2026, on Pine Street in Holbrook, Massachusetts. The police department’s release puts the time at approximately 3:20 a.m. The Jeep struck a utility pole, snapping it in half and leaving low-hanging wires across the front of the vehicle. The Jeep caught fire after the collision. ^{11 1}

Inside, the damaged dashboard had pinned the driver’s right foot. He could not escape, and his foot and sneaker were burning. Sgt. Martin Faherty and Officers Jonathan O’Brien and Matthew Richards reached a man whose route out was blocked by the wreck itself. ¹

Those words, reported by CBS Boston from the officers’ body-camera footage, describe the obstacle they had to overcome: the man needed to move, but his foot would not come free. The officers pulled it out from beneath the dashboard and carried him to safety nearby. The published account does not establish a more detailed extraction technique. ¹

Police said they freed him within one minute of arriving. That is a measure of how quickly the officers acted once they reached the scene—not the total time the driver spent trapped. It does not tell us how much time passed between the collision, the emergency call and their arrival. ¹

O’Brien suffered minor burns to his fingers during the rescue, police said. Firefighters extinguished the vehicle fire, and the driver received treatment at the scene before being taken to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. CBS Boston reported that he was expected to be OK. ¹

That expectation is encouraging, but it is not a completed medical outcome. The available reporting does not confirm that the driver has been discharged or fully recovered, nor does it give a more specific account of his injuries. There are also no further established treatment details for O’Brien. ¹

Holbrook Police Chief David Del Papa praised the three officers for acting under dangerous conditions. “The outcome would have been much different had they not arrived so quickly and acted immediately,” he said. “Their quick response likely saved his life.” ¹

That is the chief’s assessment of what their intervention prevented, not a separate medical finding. What the account establishes is concrete enough: the officers freed a man whose foot was burning while he remained pinned inside a vehicle on fire. ¹

The rescue and the allegations against the driver are separate matters. Police said they intended to seek a summons for second-offense operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, a marked lanes violation and speeding. All four remain allegations. ¹

The wording matters particularly on the OUI allegation. “Second-offense” is how police described the proposed offense; it is not, on the evidence available here, independent confirmation of an underlying prior conviction. Nor does the crash and rescue account itself establish that alcohol caused the collision. ¹

CBS Boston’s report explicitly said the court had not yet issued a criminal complaint. There is no verified later complaint, issued summons, docket number or court date that changes that reported status. An intention to prosecute should not be presented as a completed court filing. ¹

Police withheld the Holbrook resident’s name because the complaint had not been issued. His eventual medical condition and whether the proposed offenses proceed through court remain the unfinished parts of an incident whose most urgent task—getting him out alive—the officers accomplished. ¹