Firefighters say a woman who was involved in a fiery single-car crash on I-95 Monday afternoon in Miami became a suspect when she pulled a knife on the men trying to help her.
The bizarre incident happened after the woman crashed her van into a wall near the 112 Expressway around 1:30 p.m.
City of Miami firefighters rushed to extract anyone who might be trapped after the van burst into flames, but no one was inside. Instead, firefighter Robert Webster saw a woman 200 yards away walking in the emergency lane, appearing distressed, so he approached her.
"She held a knife out towards me and she was saying things, I couldn't make out what she was saying," Webster said.
Webster said the woman was so violent and combative, they had no choice but to call police for backup. It took two male and two female officers to restrain the woman, who was then hog-tied, placed in the back seat, and taken in for a psychiatric evaluation.
It's unclear if she will face charges, and her identity has not been released.
Lt. Fred Rodriguez was among the three firefighters who were the first to respond.
"This is something we do everyday," he said. "You just don't see that part."
"This is quite common, for us to show up on a scene be it at a traffic accident, domestic call, even something as simple as someone acting irrationally," Webster said. "Sometimes things turn into a whole lot more than expected."
