In 15 seconds, Denver Police Officer Scott Brackett’s job went from traffic enforcement to life- saving heroism.
A sinkhole had formed near South Colorado Boulevard where a part of East Exposition Avenue once was, taking with it a 1994 Oldsmobile and 74-year- old driver Dorothy Amato.
“She is sinking! Get her out!” Brackett heard somebody yell Saturday evening as he approached the scene.
“The car started sinking like the Titanic,” Brackett said Sunday, describing the view as Amato’s car plunged nose-first into the water. “In 15 seconds, the situation went from a car being stuck to ‘she is going down.’ ”
Brackett waded through the foot-deep water that had filled the street after a water-main break, hoping to quickly remove the woman from the teetering vehicle.
“He didn’t hesitate a minute to help,” Amato recalled Sunday from her home in Aurora.
In his urgency to assist, Brackett went one step too far. Not realizing a sinkhole had developed, Brackett was suddenly plunged into water deeper than he is tall.
“I took a step and disappeared,” said Brackett, speaking at the scene Sunday. “There was a little bit of panic.”
Brackett was able to pull himself from the water, much to the relief of his partner.
“He thought he was going to have to get me,” Brackett recalled.
Brackett then positioned himself at the edge of the sinkhole and cut Amato loose from her seat belt with a knife. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her – and her purse – through the open window.
“I just started tugging, and eventually she came out,” Brackett said.
Amato said she could feel the force of the gushing water main as she exited the window.
“There was a current in the street,” she recalled.
Once she was safe, Amato said, neighborhood residents brought towels to dry her off and blankets to keep her warm.
On Sunday, Amato said she was still a little sore. She had some bruises on her legs and feet, she said. Her knees, both of which have been replaced, were hurting.
Brackett, a Denver police officer since July 2005, thinks his experience will signal the end of rookie initiations.
“I think I have kind of proven myself, that I am willing to jump into something if necessary,” he said.
Amato went to look at the sinkhole Sunday morning after crews had pumped the water out. What she saw startled her.
“It was not just a hole,” she said. “It was like a cave. I couldn’t believe it.”
Denver Water officials are still unsure as to what caused the 12-inch water main to break Saturday night.
“A lot of times with sinkholes, there is speculation over whether the cause was a soil shift or the age of the pipe,” said Joe Sloan, who handles community relations for Denver Water.
Sloan estimated that the sinkhole was 10 feet by 10 feet and 6 feet deep.
Amato said she wishes the city would have done a better job identifying the hazard sooner and blocking off the street. But, she said, she is grateful to the officer who rescued her.
“I do feel very fortunate that nobody was hurt,” she said. “The car can be replaced. Maybe it was time.”
Staff writer JP Eichmiller can be reached at 303-820-1201 or jeichmiller@denverpost.com.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
