ROSELLE, New Jersey — Roselle Police Officer Paul Davis Jr. received a Medal of Valor after an off-duty rescue on the Garden State Parkway, according to TAPinto Roselle.

The local outlet reported that Davis was driving to work last October when he saw a vehicle swerve and then watched another car spiral out of control and overturn. Davis told TAPinto Roselle he pulled over immediately after seeing the crash.

Family of three helped from overturned vehicle

According to the report, Davis tried to open a rear door and then used his police department-issued PR-24 baton to break through a window after the door handle came off. Once he could see inside, the report said he helped a family of three get out of the overturned vehicle before state police arrived.

“That is just me,” Davis told TAPinto Roselle. “If I wasn’t a cop, I would have done the same thing. You see somebody that needs help, you are going to go out there and try to do the best that you can do.”

Davis later arrived at work and explained the broken baton during normal uniform inspection, according to the article. The story then worked its way up the Roselle Police Department chain of command.

First Roselle recipient in 40 years

TAPinto Roselle reported that the Two Hundred Club of Union County, a nonprofit that honors bravery by local law-enforcement officers, presented Davis with the Medal of Valor. The report said it marked the first time in 40 years that a Roselle police officer received the award.

Davis, described by the outlet as a Roselle native, said representing the borough and the police department in a positive way meant a lot to him.

Sources reviewed

Editorial note: ThinBlueNews relied on the named local-source report and used a real source photo with attribution. The article avoids adding unsupported crash details, private medical information, or staged/AI-generated rescue imagery.