John Vescio’s training and experience took over. Vescio, a senior state police investigator, had been pumping gasoline into his unmarked police car at 11 a.m. June 3 at the gas station along the Hutchinson River Parkway in White Plains when a Toyota came barreling out of control into the parking lot, hit a car and then a gas pump, and set off a ball of fire. "It happened so quick," Vescio told The Journal News Tuesday in his first public comments since the incident. "It was hard to think. I pretty much just reacted."

The 69-year-old driver had a medical issue and was trapped inside the car.