Kare11
Man pulled from I-94 car fire, heroes speak about rescue
“I’m only here because they continued to persist,” said Sam Orbovich, who was pulled from a burning vehicle back in April along I-94 in St. Paul.
ST PAUL, Minn. — At a St. Paul park, Sam Orbovich and Dave Klepaida greet each other like old friends. Their connection, one that along with a group of everyday heroes has been forged in flames.
“I’m only here because they continued to persist,” Orbovich said.
In April, Orbovich was driving down Interstate 94 in St. Paul when he says another car began to swerve in and out of traffic. It caused Orbovich to lose control. He doesn’t remember much of what happened next, but his vehicle swerved off the road, hit a light pole and burst into flames.
Orbovich was knocked unconscious. He only knows all of what happened next because of a dash cam video shared around the world.
Orbovich sat down with KARE 11 to describe his ordeal and what happened next on the condition that we also talk to the heroes who saved his life.
When he met us he was wearing the same sport coat he wore on the day he nearly died.
“It survived,” he said with a smile. “Not even a singe.”
That’s because of the regular citizens who quickly stopped their cars and ran to help.
Heroes jump into action
Tesfaye “Tes” Deyasso was one of the first to arrive, running toward the car and trying to open the driver’s side door.
“I kept pulling the door, like as hard as I can. I just keep pulling, pulling the door,” he recalled. But Sam’s car was pinned against a guardrail. “The flame was really, really really hot,” he recalled.
Lacie Kramer also pulled over.
“None of us thought – we just ran into there,” she explained. “I just knew that there was a car in flames…and it looked like a situation that needed assistance immediately.”
Orbovich says he eventually re-gained consciousness and could see and hear people trying to help him.
“They were saying to themselves ‘we got to get him out of here’. And I was saying to them, get me out!” he told KARE 11.
Rescuers tried smashing the window with objects, but it wouldn’t break.
Meanwhile, on the passenger side, Michael Coy, a UPS driver who was also one of the first on the scene, also tried to get Orbovich out. But he says, the grass burst into flames pushing him away and blocking the passenger exit.
“That was the moment I was kind of scared. I actually thought he might die in front of us,” Coy said.
As the car tires exploded, another helper arrived with the tool that changed everything.
“There was just a lot of chaos going on,” recalled Dave Klepaida – a driver with the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s FIRST program, sometimes known as Highway Helpers.
“I knew that I had to get up there and use the window punch,” he explained.
“Have you used that tool before?” KARE 11’s Lauren Leamanczyk asked. “Only in practice, only in training,” he replied.
The window punch is a handheld tool that is made to shatter a car window and in this case it worked.
Orbovich was pulled to safety with not a second to spare, just as another explosion caused the flames to overtake his car.
Miraculously, except for a few scratches and some smoke inhalation, neither he nor any of the heroes were hurt.
At the time no one knew the heroics were being being captured on fellow rescuer Kadir Tolla’s dash cam.
The video that would soon be shared everywhere.
Going Viral
“I just woke up to a lot of texts one day saying you’re all over the news,” Lacie Kramer said.
The others had a similar experience, including Orbovich, whose relatives in another state alerted him to the video.
“It was quite strange,” he said about suddenly going viral. Seeing the video was a shock.
“That was the first time I had an appreciation, I think, for how serious it was,” he said.
So, what was it about this moment that struck a nerve? The heroes and Orbovich thinks people were hungry to see goodness.
“Everybody came together to save a person they don’t even know,” said Tes Deyasso.
“In a time where this whole entire world is so divided on every single issue, in that one moment when it mattered – we came together,” Coy said. “Different races, different genders, different religions…we didn’t know who we were saving. We didn’t know their political bent. We just saved a man’s life.”
For Orbovich, it was the heroism that he believes inspired so many.
“The bravery, the persistence, the desire that these people expressed to get the job done of getting me out of the car is, I mean, it makes people feel good to watch it,” he said.
Two Lessons
Orbovich admits he still feels a bit guilty – all these people risking their life to save his. They’ve met a few times since and have vowed to keep in touch.
But while he says those who saved him were the very definition of heroes, the civilians brush off the praise.
“I don’t think I was a hero. No,” said Deyasso.
“All we did was behave like human beings,” said Coy.
“I feel like the team effort is heroic is what I would kind of say about that,” Kramer added.
And Klepaida said he was just doing his job.
For Orbovich and the others, there are two big lessons the rest of us can take from their remarkable story.
First, carry a window punch. The tool can be bought for around ten dollars and might just save a life.
The second lesson requires a bit of luck.
“If you have to get trapped in a burning car along the highway, make sure you do it in Minnesota because people stop. People come to your rescue,” Orbovich advised.
Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later.
Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him.
Jourdain was 17 at the time.
Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
The organizations say many Asian Americans are planning to vote despite lack of candidate outreach.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Most people have been contacted in some way shape or form by a campaign in the last few weeks. And if the polls are right and the race for president is a dead heat, every vote will matter.
That’s why this is a head scratcher:
According to a September 2024 voter survey by Asian American Pacific Islander Data, 27% of Asian-American voters said they hadn’t been contacted by either political party trying to get their vote. Last spring, earlier in the voting season, it was even more – 42%.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group nationwide.
Their voter participation levels are growing too, with 60% of eligible Asian-American voters turning out in 2020. And AAPI Data reports as many as 90% of Asian Americans they surveyed said they plan to vote this cycle.
“Candidates are not reaching out to Asian Americans, which is a huge mistake,” said ThaoMee Xiong, executive and networking director of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders.
She says even though there are more than 200,000 eligible Asian voters in Minnesota, the Asian vote is under-appreciated.
“Neither the Democratic or Republican parties have been reaching out in huge numbers,” Xiong said. “They’re sending general mailers to everyone but … they need it in their native language.”
That’s why CAAL is partnering with two more organizations to keep voter turnout high and reach anyone candidates or advocates missed.
Xor Xiong is from Asian American Organizing Project, which focuses on engaging metro-area teens and young adults.
“Many of our communities are still facing barriers to go to vote,” he said. “There’s been more times than I like to admit in terms of when I was having a conversation over the phones of voters being surprised that they can take time off to go and vote, or they can bring the kids to the polling locations, or they can even bring someone to translate for them.”
“In Ramsey County, because of the large Hmong American population there, the polls in Ramsey County are federally required to provide interpreters and translated materials,” ThaoMee added.
Their nonpartisan campaign, Get Out the Vote for Asian Minnesotans, aims to get people registered and well-informed.
“Throughout Covid, there was a lot of anti-hate around the AAPI community and we are still feeling the impact of that to this day,” said Amanda Xiong, a community organizer with a group known as CAPI USA. “Even if folks are afraid to go to the polls, due to that, we try our best to then educate them around absentee ballots, voting early.”
“And so yes, there is a huge increase in terms of voter turnout, but then why is it still 70% feel as though they don’t belong?”
In 2021, the FBI reported a 168% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes.
In Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, the groups knocked on at least 700 doors in one session alone while keeping safety top of mind.
“We make sure that there’s a car following all the door knockers,” ThaoMee said. “We put everyone on text chain … and we are putting a lot of precautionary measures in place for the day of voting.”
After the election, the CAAL plans to conduct surveys and send the results to county election officials. They’ve done this before and say it led to policy changes this year at the legislature including measures to ensure people have easier access to interpreters.
