PITTSBURG, Kan. — Last weekend, Crawford County Deputy Seirra Roberts, without any regard for her own safety, jumped into a ditch full of moving water to save a man who was trapped in his vehicle.

“To me, I was just doing my job,” Roberts said. “Then the more I think about it, and the more people press upon me, it was a pretty major deal. I could have probably gotten hurt, but my safety wasn't my priority, it was his.”

A large storm occurred late Saturday night causing flash flooding and other damage, and Pittsburg resident Jon Meyer got caught in the aftermath.

Shortly after midnight on June 14, Meyer was driving home from Carl Junction. As he turned onto 260th from Highway 171, near the Opolis turnoff, Meyer drove into a river of water flowing over the road, which he didn’t see until it was too late. The vehicle hydroplaned into a waterfilled ditch.

Once his car hit the water, Meyer said, all the electrical components of his car stopped working. Because his door locks and windows were electric, he could not open either to escape. The locks were also flush with the door, so Water began filling the inside as the vehicle slowly floated through the ditch. Meyer later learned he floated 1/10 of a mile before getting stuck on tree branches.

Meyer called 911 and told dispatch the situation.

Although Meyer said he stayed mostly calm through the ordeal, he said he started to panic a little when the vehicle got stuck on the tree and water started rushing in more.

The water level was up to Meyer’s chest, when Deputy Roberts arrived at the scene.

Deputy Roberts was only about a mile from the accident when she got the call from dispatch. When she arrived, Roberts said, the water was running over 260th like a river, which was enough to make her question whether her vehicle would make it safely. But she knew Meyer was on the other side and that it was safer to attempt to drive across rather than walk.

After discovering Meyer could not exit the vehicle, she grabbed a crowbar and jumped back into the water-filled ditch. The water level was directly below Roberts’ chin, and she had to hold onto the handle of the car to keep from being swept away.

“That was some murky, fast flowing water that she jumped it to, and honestly, I wasn't in that much danger, but she kicked ass,” Meyer said. “She didn't hesitate, she didn't stand at the edge and call it in, say, ‘Hey, we need those so and so, we need these people here to try and do this.’ She just jumped in and tried to fix it.”

Roberts broke the passenger window with the crowbar, cleared the glass, and helped Meyer out of the car.

“I've had a lot of people ask me what was going through my mind,” she said.  “I don't recall any direct thought process. I just was like, ‘I gotta get him out of the car.’ I guess you could say I was kind of contemplating best-case scenario for getting him out, but it was such a split-second decision. I just knew instinctively that the passenger window was going to be the best thing, and I needed to break it.”

Additional help arrived just in time to help Roberts and Meyer out of the ditch. Meyer was uninjured, but Roberts sustained a cut from the glass and sprained her hand.

Following the incident, Roberts went home, changed her socks and resumed her shift.

Both Sheriff Billy Tomasi and Chief Deputy Matt Petters called Roberts to check on her. They assured her that someone could take over the rest of her shift, but she said she wanted to go back on duty. Roberts commented that those phone calls showed that the leaders cared about her safety and health.

Deputy Roberts has been with the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department for just one year, but has been in law enforcement for more than five years. Roberts was first hired at the Arma Police Department then went on to serve the Girard Police Department. After a year, she became a sergeant, then, a few months later, chief of police.

Last year she transitioned to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department because she wanted to expand her reach to help people.

“The perk of it is I'm not just secluded to one tiny city. I have the whole county,” she said. “I can help everybody in our community.”

“I like to think everything happens for a reason,” she continued. “There was a reason I went to county, and I wouldn’t have been able to help that guy had I not. There's a lot of things I've done with county so far that it's been the best decision I've made.”

Deputy Roberts is encouraging all drivers to put a window breaker in their vehicles.

“We are extremely proud of Deputy Roberts for her extraordinary bravery Sunday morning,” Chief Deputy Matt Peters said in an email. “Her actions demonstrated the professionalism, compassion, and courage that truly define our mission of public service. We are extremely grateful that she and Mr. Meyer are both safe.”