'Blind Luck' Finds, Saves Deputy

A Minnesota deputy who came face to face with a speeding pickup truck and lived to tell the tale says "blind luck" saved him.

Ramsey Couonty Sheriff's Deputy Glen Pothen stopped to assist a woman whose car had skidded off the road when the out-of-control truck barreled straight into him.

Pothen's body went flying into a ditch as State Trooper Kelly Collins and motorist Tiffany Whitlow watched in horror.

But Pothen, 35, escaped with only minor injuries.

The incident was

"I'm a little sore and stiff, but other than that, fine," Pothen told co-anchor Hannah Storm on The Early Show Friday. "I have some bumps and bruises, but certainly a lot better than I think anyone ever thought I would be at this point in time."

As he watches the video, Pothen says he's "just very thankful that I'm here looking at that. I don't see any reason why I was able to be treated and released within four hours of being struck and be home with my wife and children.

"I remember hearing what seemed like tires sliding on the damp pavement, and next thing I know, I was looking up at the sky, and then was sliding through the grass."

What saved him?

"I think blind luck, to be honest. And I don't know if it played a role in it, but my holster has a few deep scratches from it, so I believe that my duty weapon may have absorbed some of the impact and prevented the vehicle from striking me directly on my hip."

Whitlow, the motorist Pothen was assisting, told Storm, "To see Officer Pothen get hit, my car get hit, it was -- there is no way to describe it. It was just so horrific. You don't see stuff like that every day."

Whitlow added that she didn't realize how close she came to being hit until she saw the video. She thought she was further away from the speeding pickup.

Trooper Collins calls that day the "worst of my career this far. I hope I never have to see something like that again.

"Glen came to assist me with some extra lights and to help Tiffany try to get her vehicle back on the roadway so we could clear the curve. …When I looked up, I saw Glen getting struck and run over by this pickup. At that point, I obviously went into shock and was calling for assistance, saying, 'Officer down.'

"When I ran down the hill to find Glen, I was surprised he was talking to me."

Pothen says "miracle" is "the only way to describe it. …I don't know what else to say other than that God was watching over all of us at that accident scene and decided that it wasn't any of our times to go."