Bodycam shows responders catch child who jumped from burning Asbury Park home

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Asbury Park, NJ - Dramatic video shows two Asbury Park police officers and a neighbor save an 8-year-old boy’s life as they coaxed him to jump out of an upstairs window into their waiting arms as the house around him erupted in flames.

Asbury Park Police Officer DeWitt Bacon, Officer John Walsh and neighbor Joseph Dunbar all stood under the boy’s upstairs window and caught him as he jumped out to safety.

“I’m just hoping he trusts me enough to catch him because in his mind there are two bad situations for him – stays in smoke, comes out, falls, he could hurt himself,” said Bacon.

“Catching an 8-year-old wasn’t on the agenda for the day. I just kind of picked him up. I said, ‘Let’s go, kid.’ Threw him over my shoulder and we just ran,” said Walsh.

“When he fell, that was the best way everybody had their arms out like this so he could fall into our arms,” said Dunbar.

The fire happened Monday morning on Prospect Avenue in a two-family home.

Two people downstairs self-evacuated. The boy was home alone while his mom was working and had no other options to escape, except out the window.

Dunbar says his involvement in the dramatic rescue was personal. He attends church with the boy he helped escape from the home. Still fresh on his mind was a devastating fire five months ago right across the street, where a man trapped there wasn’t as fortunate.

“I had to do something. I couldn’t have nobody else dying on my watch,” said Dunbar.

The three heroes all have extensive experience playing competitive football – and credit that to their quick thinking and strength.

“It was almost like catching a punt on a football field, just kind of look it in, and that’s what we did when he fell,” said Walsh.

The boy was rushed to the hospital for smoke inhalation and is now doing just fine. No one else was hurt.

“That kid trusted us to get him out of that window, and thankfully, he did jump. That’s something all parents should be able to tell their kids that they can trust us,” added Walsh.

The Monmouth County fire marshal, along with the Asbury Park Fire Department, continues to look for the cause of the fire.