It was after 10:30 in the evening of July 11 that 34-year-old Jarett Fuller came out of the Citgo gas station on Route 209 in Ellenville. A few minutes later, he found himself rescuing babies from the back of an overturned Ford Transit van.
“Yeah. It was four children and four or five adults in there,” said Fuller. “That was a little hectic.”
Maybe a minute before, a police SUV with emergency lights flashing heading north at a high rate of speed had crashed into the Ford van at the center of the intersection of Route 209 and Center Street.
Standing outside the gas station, Fuller said he saw the official vehicle blow through the red light at the intersection.
“The van had the green light,” recalled Fuller. “When the cop hit him, the van spun around, did a complete 180, and flipped onto its side. When it was coming, it was traveling west. And now it’s facing east.”
Fuller said he was in shock for a couple of seconds. The airbags in the police vehicle had gone off. Witnesses at the scene were struggling to open the driver’s side door, which was wedged shut.
Fuller went into the street to help.
“Me and my friend went over there and just yanked the door open,” said Fuller, “and bent it all the way to the front fender. We went up under the airbags and pulled officer Rodriguez out by his vest. He was unconscious and he was making noises.”
The bystanders started to carry the limp officer, Matthew Rodriguez, away from the wreck.
Witnesses shouted at them to stop.
“At first the people were like, Just lay him down! Don’t move him! Don’t move him!,” said Fuller.
Then Fuller noticed fluid coming out of the truck.
“I’m not an expert, I don’t know if it was gasoline,” said Fuller. “I just seen the fluid start pouring out and it begin to smoke and hiss. So I’m like, if we leave him here we’re all going to catch on fire.”
They carried Rodriguez over to the sidewalk and laid him down on his back, stretching his arms and legs out flat.
“We told him to breathe. And then we went to the Sprinter van and started pulling people out of the back of that,” reported Fuller. “They had four babies in there with them. They were in car seats.”
Emergency responders arrived at the scene about five minutes later. Miraculously, the passengers of the van appeared unscathed.
According to an Ellenville police press release, the passengers of the van were transported by Hatzalah ambulance to Garnett Medical Center in Middletown for evaluation.
Officer Rodriguez was taken to the Ellenville Regional Hospital where he was stabilized and received ten stitches to close a hand wound. He was later transferred to Garnet Medical Center, where he underwent surgery for broken bones.
On Monday, July 24, the Ellenville village board attempted to acknowledge Fuller’s selfless response in a ceremony during which they had intended to present him with a certificate. The ceremony was rescheduled for August 18 because officer Rodriguez still needed to recover.
Fuller, who turned 35 on July 18, is the son of the reverend Gary Fuller, chair of the Ulster County Human Rights Commission.
“I was standing outside the gas station. I was on my way home,” said Fuller. “And it turned out to be a good thing.”
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