Crowd on Route 1 applauds as rescuers free teen trapped under SUV in Lawrence

LAWRENCE (Mercer) — First responders were applauded by a crowd on Business Route 1 in Lawrence Township after successfully freeing a 14-year-old bicyclist who was hit by an SUV on Sunday afternoon.

The boy was trapped for about 30 minutes while firefighters, police and EMT braced the vehicle from collapsing onto him, according to Dennis Symons of MidJersey.news, which was first to report the story.

"He had an angel on his shoulder," Lawrence police Lt. Joe Lech told New Jersey 101.5

Officers kept the boy calm as firefighters used airbags and rescue tools. MidJersey.news reported that the boy was able to use his cell phone to talk with his parents during the rescue.

Lech said a police detective crawled under the car and had to cut the bike because it was intertwined with the SUV.

Lech said that no charges were filed as the driver was not at fault. He described the incident as a "perfect storm" of bad timing.

"He was going down the road and he kind of crossed the intersection. He should have stopped but he didn't," Lech said.  "He wasn't making wheelies and riding all over. He was  just riding on the sidewalk and cut out in front of the car. It was an unfortunate accident."

Photojournalist Brian McCarthy said the crowd was tense as rescuers in full gear worked on their knees to free the boy, who didn't express pain or panic.

"Suddenly applause erupted from the crowd of onlookers as they pulled a young boy, alert and conscious," McCarthy said. "Moments later his mangled bicycle emerged in two pieces."

The boy suffered only cuts and bruises in the incident, according to Lech.

Lech said that the responding units were Lawrence police, Lawrence Township EMS, Lawrenceville Fire Co., Slackwood Volunteer Fire Co.and the Lawrence Road Fire Co. plus paramedics from Capital Health.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ