NORFOLK, Virginia — A Norfolk police officer and a group of bystanders worked together to pull a woman from her car after a water-main break opened what WTKR News 3 reported was a 7-foot sinkhole on City Hall Avenue.
The rescue happened Tuesday afternoon, according to WTKR’s June 25 report. The outlet reported that Officer AJ Stevenson climbed down into the sinkhole as water rushed around the vehicle and talked the woman through the rescue.
Bystanders stepped in instead of just recording
WTKR reported that bystanders, including Brennan Feldman, stopped to help after hearing the woman screaming. Feldman told the station the woman was still buckled in the driver’s seat with “a rushing river of water around her.”
As Stevenson worked near the car, Feldman and others positioned themselves at the edge of the sinkhole to help anchor the officer and pull both Stevenson and the woman out safely, according to the report.
“I just immediately thought that I need to get her out that vehicle and one way or another. I was gonna get her out,” Stevenson told WTKR.
A rescue that depended on teamwork
Stevenson told WTKR the citizens around him made a difference because they did not simply pull out phones and record. Instead, he said, they stood by, helped and checked on both him and the woman.
“Yes, I probably could’ve done it by myself, but it was a team effort. I owe a lot of thanks to the citizens that stood by,” Stevenson said, according to WTKR.
Feldman told the station he hopes Stevenson receives recognition because the officer risked his life to save another person. Stevenson said what stood out most was that strangers came together without hesitation to help someone they had never met.
Why this story matters
For ThinBlueNews readers, the Norfolk sinkhole rescue is a useful reminder that public safety often depends on an officer willing to move first and citizens willing to help the right way. The facts reported so far point to a fast-moving water emergency, a trapped driver, body camera documentation and a small group of people who chose teamwork over spectatorship.
Sources reviewed
- WTKR News 3: Norfolk officer and bystanders team up to rescue woman trapped in sinkhole
- WTKR source still used for the featured image
Editorial note: ThinBlueNews used WTKR’s source-backed reporting and source still, did not name the rescued woman, avoided medical speculation, and used a real source image rather than AI-generated rescue art.