NORTH OLMSTEAD, Ohio -- Video from a police officer's dash cam shows a man pulled over for suspected driving under the influence walking into traffic on a busy Ohio interstate.
North Olmstead police said 54-year-old Richard Solis was pulled over for driving 80 mph in a 60 mph zone. When he pulled over on the side of the road, the dash cam shows him bolt out of his car, teeter back and forth as he walks into oncoming traffic on I-480.
Patrolman Matthew Beck's reaction was to scream loudly at Solis so he would not get hit, according to WEWS.
"My first instinct is to become very vocal," said Beck. "There's so much traffic you have to talk loudly at a traffic stop. And this guy lays across the highway. I tried yelling, but I went ignored."
In fact, when Beck tried to grab Solis, he dropped to the ground right in the path of oncoming cars. So the quick-thinking officer grabbed the 340-pound Solis and dragged him across three lanes of the highway to safety.
Ken Henderson, who witnessed what happened, stopped to help Beck subdue the suspect.
"When he fell to the ground, he just went limp," Beck said. "He just went limp right to the ground and started yelling kill me kill me kill me. A couple of cars swerved to miss him."
The patrolman found an empty bottle of Bacardi Rum, along with empty beer cans and several unopened cans of beer, inside Solis' car.
Solis was found guilty of DUI and speeding.
Officer Beck said he is not a hero. In fact, he said that when he signed onto the force eight years ago, he signed up to do just that -- help people.
