College Student Reunites With Long Island Officers Who Saved Him From Burning Car
A Long Island college student was reunited with the brave Suffolk County cops who saved his life when they pulled his unconscious body out of a flaming car last November.
Kervens Lesperance, 19, was on his way home from a friend’s house in November when he was involved in a crash on Nicolls Road in Holtstville that flipped over his Jeep, knocked him unconscious — and pinned his legs inside as the vehicle went up in flames.
“I’m grateful to be alive,” Lesperance told The Post at police headquarters on Wednesday after personally thanking the cops who saved his life in the daring rescue, which was caught on bodycam.
Suffolk County Police Officer Craig Capobianco said he happened to be on patrol in the area when the call came in on the night of the crash. The eight-year veteran of the force traffic rushed to the scene and jumped out of his squad car and ran to the opposite side of the street to rescue Lesperance, he said.
He was assisted on the scene by Officers Robert Rosciano, Michael Renna, Robert Stroehlein and Joseph Nofi, who all helped put out the flames and pull Lesperance to safety.
“They saved this man’s life,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine told reporters at the reunion, where a ceremony was held to recognize the officers with certificates.
But Capobianco said it was all in a day’s work.
“I think saving someone is the most important part of the job,” Capobianco said.
Lesperance said he has no memory of the crash or its aftermath, and only found out he was in the accident about a week later, when he woke up in his house, where his mother and friends told him what happened.
Lesperance said he didn’t know how to feel when he first viewed bodycam footage of the dramatic rescue — but he knew he was happy to be alive.
He personally thanked the officers for their life-saving work, and added that without their bravery, he would likely be gone.
Friends who attended the ceremony said they would always look up to the way the cops laid their lives to save Lesperance.
“This is like my brother,” Jalen Walthoun, 18, who was with Lesperance just before the crash, said.
“I was at the hospital with his mom every single day, I never left,” he added.
Walthoun hugged his friend, shook the officers’ hand, and told them that he will forever be grateful for their quick thinking and action.
