Driving through rural northwestern Minnesota, outside the town of Milton, two longtime friends saw what could only be described as a scene out of the latest Hollywood action flick. But the car flying through the air and crashing into the median was real
But the story only
starts there.
After viewing the collision, Chase Torgerson and Cody Charpentier jumped out to help. Torgerson, who has had National Guard training, began tending to an injured passenger who was dangling out of two blown-out windows.
He even put his own gloves on the victim. Risking wind chills at minus-34 degrees, he used his bare hand to call 911 with his cell phone.
And that's when the unbelievable happened.
"Chase! Turn around! Your car!" his friend screamed and then. Torgerson, 20, of Clearbrook MN, saw one of the uninjured passengers commandeer his car. and take off.. To add insult to injury, the would be car thief totaled Torgerson's car, rolling it over, a mere 800 yards down Minnesota State Highway 2.
"Look what you get for your trouble," State Patrol Capt. Dick Wittenberg said of the duo's playing “good Samaritan,. "You get your car stolen."
Torgerson recall's thinking, "What could I do? There goes my car a I'm still on the line with 911."
Once Torgerson's car was totaled, the car thief fled on foot. Authorities used a police dog to find the driver, who was hiding under a semitrailer truck.
Wittenberg said all three people in the first vehicle were "heavily intoxicated."
When all was said and done, the slightly hurt getaway driver and a passenger ended up in jail, and one man landed in the hospital with serious injuries.
Although his 17-year-old sedan was "smashed pretty good," Torgerson said that he'd do it again if faced with a similar situation.
“Next time, though, I won't leave my keys in the car.. I didn't know what kind of people they were." he said.
