Cop pulls woman from car at flooded Montreal underpass

Any police officer will tell you that aspects of daily life on the beat, can be highly unpredictable and exciting.  Even unusual.

Such was the case on a rainy afternoon, last Saturday, with Montreal police constable Rafael Beaulieu and his partner Simon Lavoie, while driving in the vicinity of Jean Talon Street and Victoria Avenue in Cote des Neiges.  It was shortly after a heavy downpour and the Victoria Avenue underpass, near the intersection with Jean Talon, was flooded. Bealieu spotted a car in the water.

“I didn’t see any pedestrians around the vehicle so I walked on the sidewalk towards it to see if anyone was inside,” recounts Beaulieu.  “That’s when I saw a woman inside panicking. The vehicle was tilted at 45 degrees, the front was submerged and it was just the back that was afloat.”

READ MORE: Quebec floods: Volunteers come to the rescue

He said initially that they thought the water was stable but then noticed that it began to rise quickly.  He decided to get in the water and, breaking the back window of the car, he freed the woman.

Beaulieu said that he asked her if she was able to swim. “She said she couldn’t,” he said.  “She gripped me and began pulling me down, but there was so much water that I couldn’t touch the bottom. “That’s when Simon arrived and helped me.”

There was so much going on and things happened so quickly, he had no time to think, he explained. “We just did our job. I really don’t consider myself a hero.”

He said that the woman is fine and that contacted them to say thanks. “We received a few e-mails as well, and it feels good when your work is appreciated.”