Officer's chase, fiery rescue `part of job'.

Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

Cottage Grove police officer Britton Munoz said he was just doing his job, which in this case means braving a shower of sparks and flames from a downed power pole to pull a teen-age woman out of a wrecked, stolen vehicle.

Moments earlier, the woman allegedly had been doing her best to elude Munoz in a high-speed chase south of Cottage Grove.

"This is basically what I got into this line of work to do," said Munoz, a 14-year veteran of the department. "People may think we're heroes. This is basically part of the job and this is what we do for a living."

The incident began about 5:30 p.m. Thursday when police received a report that two people were putting gas into a suspicious, possibly stolen vehicle on Shoestring Road. Both Munoz and a Lane County sheriff's deputy responded to the scene.

As the deputy headed there, two vehicles, a black Honda Accord and a brown Toyota pickup truck, passed him going the other way on London Road. The deputy turned around and pursued both vehicles until they split up, then followed the pickup, said sheriff's Lt. Mike Sanford.

Munoz picked up the chase off Reservoir Road and turned north on London Road. He reached 85 mph at one point and the Honda was pulling away, he said.

Munoz said he saw the Honda's brake lights come on as it crested a hill at 77088 London Road, then "lots of black rubber smoke and a huge cloud of dust."

The Honda had missed a turn, left the road and went airborne, shearing off a power pole, which ignited nearby trees. One of the pole's transformers exploded, blowing fire and smoke onto the car, he said. Munoz radioed for medics, and heard the driver screaming for help.

"I was surprised she was alive," he said.

He ran down to the vehicle and saw the woman covered in blood with fire bearing down on the car.

He pulled her out of the car and started to run up toward the road, "when the second transformer blew with such force it knocked both of us to the ground and showered us with sparks and flames," he said.

"The ground was on fire from the transformer and the trees were on fire," he said.

Munoz dragged the woman up to the road and put her behind his car, where she stayed until Cottage Grove Fire Department medics arrived.

William Birch was at a nearby garage sale and saw most of it happen.

"He jerked her out of the car and it was moments later that it blew up," Birch said. Flames shot 60 feet into the air by his estimation. "It was a ball of flame."

Birch figured that Munoz saved the woman's life and was so impressed he felt obligated to shake the officer's hand.

The officer said things happened so fast he just reacted.

"At the time, I didn't think about it because I was just trying to help somebody," he said. "But now when I look back, that was very scary."

Cottage Grove paramedics transported 18-year-old Lisa Alviso-Bradbury of Cottage Grove to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. A Sacred Heart spokeswoman said Alviso-Bradbury was treated and released.

Alviso-Bradbury faces charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, attempting to elude police, and possible reckless driving, Munoz said.

Meanwhile, the sheriff's deputy caught up with the driver of the other vehicle after his own harrowing chase that reached speeds up to 85 mph, said Sanford.

The chase wound up on a gravel road near Cottage Grove Reservoir Road, when the pickup began to slide sideways and kick up dirt. The deputy was unable to stop and collided with the pickup, Sanford said.

The chase resumed and a short while later, on Quail Creek Orchard, the pickup hit a pile of mulch and grass and the deputy again struck the pickup. The driver got out and looked as if he was going to run until the deputy pointed his gun at him and arrested him, Sanford said.

Craig Manker, 21, no known address, faces charges of felony eluding, possession of burglary tools, reckless driving and second-degree theft.