Two Brooklyn EMTs were life savers of a different kind last week when they leapt to a Fort Greene woman’s aide, risking their own safety to chase down a mugger.
The dramatic Oct. 18 incident began at around 8:40 am, when a thief grabbed a cellphone out of the hands of 26-year-old Evelina Losik near the entrance to the DeKalb Avenue subway station.
She screamed, and gave chase — and that’s when paramedics Delano Williams and Rheinhold Danglade stepped in.
Concerned that Losik may be hit by a car on busy Flatbush Avenue Extension, the EMTs popped their ambulance into drive, hit the sirens and chased the perp.
“There was no communication,” said Williams about the immediate action by himself and his partner of three years. “It was like we could read each other’s minds.”
Construction on Flatbush Avenue near Fulton Street prevented the emergency workers from continuing in the ambulance, so they hopped out and began a running chase of the thief.
The suspect eventually saw the paramedics chasing him, and threw the phone on the ground and surrendered. Delano and Williams restrained him until police arrived.
Losik hailed her dynamic duo.
“They definitely should be honored by the borough,” she said. “They are heroes in my eyes. It was the greatest luck ever to have them there.”
In the manner of generations of heroes before him, Williams denied that the term applies to him and his partner.
“It was just a human reaction to seeing someone getting robbed,” said Williams, an EMT for 15 years. “I saw my sister, or family member, in that situation.”
Losik, who complained of chest pains, was examined by another EMT unit on site.
“After the cops arrested the guy, I went to the ambulance to check on her,” said Danglade, who has been an EMT for 11 years. “She thanked me, and that’s all I needed. That was good enough for me.”
Such dedication by Brooklyn EMTs is welcomed news, considering the tragedy of Eutisha Rennix, an East Flatbush resident who suffocated to death last Dec. 9 after an asthma attack in the Au Bon Pain in the Metrotech Center in Downtown.
Two EMTs were in the café at the time, but they did not assist the eight-months-pregnant Rennix. By the time an ambulance arrived, Rennix could not be saved. Her child died two days later.
