Woman, 84, Rescued From Burning Car

A man rescued an 84-year-old woman from a burning car in Long Beach on Tuesday, then walked away as the car rolled down the road, authorities said.

A city attorney’s investigator and motorcycle officer teamed up to stop it.

The car caught fire on Long Beach Boulevard near Anaheim Street about 12:45 p.m., and a passerby, described only as an older Latino, got Joyce Perrin out of the driver’s side of the car, said Sgt. Harry Bovie of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s transit bureau. The flaming car continued rolling south.

A deputy on a motorcycle arrived and joined Robert Dutro, an investigator with the city attorney’s office, who was following the rolling car, Bovie said. The two trailed the burning car as it rolled through an intersection.

Gilberto Silva, a passerby, maneuvered his pickup truck in front of the runaway car. As Silva let the burning car roll against his bumper, Deputy Robert Green got off his motorcycle, ran alongside, reached through the driver’s window and pulled the keys out, Bovie said.

Silva braked, stopping the burning car just before it crossed into oncoming traffic, Bovie said. The two bumpers had locked, together, and Green had to help Silva disengage his truck as flames enveloped the car.

Paramedics, meanwhile, had taken Perrin to a hospital. She was being treated for smoke inhalation, Bovie said.