Detective Saves Men in Car Fire

For off-duty Police Detective Michael D. Schneider, his daring Saturday morning rescue of a Santa Ana motorist and his three passengers from a burning car was all in a day’s work.

“He saved one life for sure and probably two,” said Orange County Fire Capt. Dan Young.

Schneider, 45, a senior detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, was on his way to work at Parker Center when he noticed a single-car accident about 6 a.m. on Interstate 5, near La Paz Road.

One car with four people inside had veered out of control, struck a guardrail and burst into flames. The driver and a passenger in the front seat had both escaped. But trapped inside were two young men in the car’s rear compartment, Young said.

One of the men, Jose Flores, 17, was unconscious and his brother, Noel Flores, 18, had a bad shoulder injury. Neither could get out of the burning car, Young said.

Schneider stopped his pickup truck, ran to the burning car, pulled the two men out and carried them to his truck.

When firefighters arrived seven minutes later, Young said, the car was “totally engulfed in flames.”

Schneider’s wife, Regina, said it wasn’t the first time her husband had saved people in emergency situations. Schneider has helped deliver two babies in the back seat of his patrol car, she said.

“He called me from work and told me what he did to help the men in the burning car. But he’s so low-key he thinks it’s nothing, like all in a day’s work.” Schneider’s wife said.

All four men were taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, including the driver, Gabriel Gomez, 19, and his front-seat passenger, Jose Cobign, 21, both of Santa Ana.