Heroic Durham police officer, passersby save 2 women from icy creek

A Durham police officer made a daring rescue Wednesday as he helped two women escape from an icy creek after their car went down an embankment.

The incident occurred in the 2600 block of Dearborn Drive shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Durham Police Cpl. J.J. Barazandeh was the first person to arrive at the scene. He discovered the two women – one in her 30s and one in her 60s – clinging to the door jamb of a fully submerged car. The women, who were waist deep in the water, were waving their arms and calling for help, police said.

The car had ended up in the icy creek after their car ran off the road during the snowstorm Wednesday.

Barazandeh took off his duty belt and jumped into the icy creek. He was able to reach the car and guide both women, floating them on their stomachs to the shoreline. Two passing motorists also stopped to help. They pulled the women and Barazandeh to safety.

Paramedics soon arrived and treated the women.

After a warm shower and drying off, Barazandeh returned to work.

“It was very numbing,” he said.

Barazandeh estimated the rescue took about four minutes.

This story was originally published January 17, 2018 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Heroic Durham police officer, passersby save 2 women from icy creek."