POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – A motorcycle deputy was on duty in Broward County when he saw dark smoke billowing out of a fire rescue helicopter before it started spinning down out of control and crashed into a one-story apartment building.
Deputy Mitchell Machado was in his Broward County Sheriff’s Office’s motorcycle at Dixie Highway and Atlantic Boulevard in Pompano Beach. He rushed to the crash site at Northwest 10th Street.
Machado’s body cam video showed him drop the BSO motorcycle, and run into an apartment.
“Everybody out? Is anybody home? Hello?”
Machado said he heard faint cries for help coming from the neighboring apartment, so he pulled out his baton to try to crack a window to get inside.
“I realized it was an impact window, and there was no way I was going to get in there with just a baton,” Machado said. “So, as I was thinking, ‘How can I enter this apartment to help the people that are crying for help?’ That’s when the apartment exploded and pushed me back.”
BSO Fire Rescue Capt. Terryson Jackson, who was a passenger in the helicopter, and Lurean Wheaton, who was in the apartment, died on Aug. 28, 2023.
Daron Roche, the helicopter’s pilot; and Mikael “Mike” Chaguaceda, a firefighter and paramedic who was a passenger in the helicopter, both survived.
Another deputy’s body camera captured the fiery explosion. A piece of shrapnel hit Machado’s helmet. He stood back up and moved to help survivors to evacuate the burning building.
Martin Hedelund, a retired captain who supervised Machado on the day of the crash, said he “put himself in harm’s way to save others. Deputies recently remembered Machado’s heroism and awarded him with a Medal of Honor during a BSO award ceremony.
Watch the BSO video