Patriots LB Darius Fleming says he saved woman from smoking car
New England Patriots linebacker Darius Fleming reportedly played with 22 stitches in his right leg during the team’s game on Saturday against the Chiefs. Fleming said he sustained the injury to his leg while kicking out the window of a smoking car in order to save a woman following a crash.
Despite a TMZ report that law enforcement agencies and emergency responders did not have any record of the alleged crash, the deputy police chief of the Walpole police department, Chris Mackenzie, released a statement confirming that the incident did occur.
“All of the involved operators stated that a truck was turning right onto Foxhill Dr which vehicle’s two and three slowed down for. The operator of vehicle one did not stop and rear ended vehicle two. This caused vehicle two to rear end vehicle three. Vehicle one and two were towed from the scene. No injuries were reported,” the press release stated.
The press release also added that there was no fire involved in the accident. However, the air bag did deploy, which could give off the appearance of smoke.
“The officers on scene did indicate one of the vehicles did have a broken window. The operator of that vehicle did make statements to one officer that a male party “kicked in my window, I think he was a patriot,” the statement continues.
Mackenzie released a follow up statement with more information from the woman in the vehicle.
“AT 4:50 PM today the operator of the vehicle in question returned our calls to give further detail. She said that due to the nature of the accident her vehicle lost power and she could not get out. At that time a male who she believed to be a patriot approached the passenger side and indicated to her that he would kick in the passenger side window which he did. She then crawled over to the passenger side and the unknown male assisted her in climbing out of the window,” the statement said.
The incident first came to light when St. Rita High School acknowledged Fleming’s heroic act on its Facebook page. Fleming graduated from the school in 2008, before attending Notre Dame.
“Darius was really quiet about it, but once the team got a hold of it, the guys on the team, we forced him to give a speech and everything,” said Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty. “He explained it was very simple: He saw a woman’s car that looked like it was smoking, and he just jumped out of his car. He’ll admit there was probably an easier solution, but I think it was nice and dramatic — kicked the window in and pulled her out.”
Fleming had two combined tackles during Saturday’s game. The Patriots defeated the Chiefs 27–20 and are set to take on the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
