Power lines carrying at least 14,000 volts fell onto the SUV
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced on Monday that Larry Pickett Sr of Raleigh, North Carolina, has been awarded the Carnegie medal for heroism — the highest honor for civilian heroism in the United States and Canada — for helping pull a motorist from a sport utility vehicle outside Fort Montgomery, New York, on 31 August 2025.
Pickett Sr, who was 46 at the time, was driving with his family past the crash scene on their return from dinner at Times Square in New York City when he and his son, then-20-year-old Larry Pickett Jr, saw the wreck. Pickett Jr had just played a football game for the U.S. Army at its home stadium at West Point.
According to the Carnegie commission’s statement, the motorist, 65-year-old David N Denton, was semiconscious inside his SUV after it left the roadway and struck a power pole. The crash brought the pole and power lines — carrying a total of at least 14,000 volts — down onto the road and onto Denton’s vehicle, with flames burning on the exterior of its passenger side.
Pickett Sr immediately parked before he and Pickett Jr realized Denton was semiconscious inside his SUV, the commission said. The father and son then advanced toward Denton, opened his driver’s door and each took turns reaching in for him, stepping over a perilous downed power line and evidence of electrical arcing beneath the crashed SUV, the commission’s statement said. Pickett Sr removed Denton’s seatbelt after four tries, and together the two freed Denton from the car. After Pickett Sr briefly fell next to the vehicle — within inches of a downed power line — Pickett Jr carried Denton across the four-lane road and laid him on the grass.
Seconds later, flames engulfed Denton’s car, the commission said. Firefighters who arrived afterward extinguished the blaze from a distance out of caution for the live power lines; the power was not shut off until later and was done remotely, according to the commission.
“A fire chief at the scene and an electrical engineer later consulted about the incident both agreed that the car’s exterior and surrounding area should have been electrified under the circumstances and could not explain how Pickett, his son and Denton avoided electrocution,” the Carnegie commission’s statement said.
Denton sustained only abrasions. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, was discharged and ultimately recovered. Neither of the Picketts was injured.
The rescue was captured on cellphone video recorded by Pickett Jr’s sister, Lauren, which circulated widely on social media. The footage shows a car engulfed in fire and surrounded by sparking wires; a woman can be heard shouting, “Larry, come on! Come on, get him out — that’s it!” In another segment, a confused man asks, “What car is this?” and a bystander replies, “That’s your car. You hear it? That’s the tires popping.”
Pickett Sr later told WTVD of Raleigh that there was “no discussion” with his son about whether to intervene. “My son just jumped right into action,” Pickett Sr said. “He mentioned his military training kicked in, and we pulled him out.” Of his son, he added: “It’s just amazing to see him in action. And it’s just not surprising because we’ve watched him his whole life do amazing things.”
Pickett Jr had separately received the U.S. Army’s Soldier’s Medal, the military’s highest honor for noncombat actions, for the same incident in a 12 March 2026 ceremony at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Pickett Sr was one of 16 Carnegie medal recipients announced Monday. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission was created by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie after a 1904 coal-mining accident in which two men died while attempting to rescue others, according to the commission. Nearly 10,600 people have received the medal since its inception, with more than $47 million distributed in one-time grants, scholarship aid, death benefits and continuing assistance.