Crossing Guard Earns Ice Cream Treat After Saving Citizen From Crash

Nothing cools off the body and calms the nerves better than some ice cream on a hot day. And a tasty treat is what seemed to be the best calming technique for a crossing guard in Philadelphia who witnessed a massive vehicle collision. The video of the large utility vehicle slamming into an elementary school playground in early May is absolutely wild (and a little bit tough to watch), but the interview of the very animated crossing guard's story is significantly less traumatic.

Jamele Ransom, a crossing guard who witnessed the crash in Philadelphia's Kingsessing neighborhood, told NBC10, with an ice cream cone in hand, that he had been tucked away in a shady area trying to keep cool in the 82-degree heat when the nearby collision occurred. 

In footage acquired by NBC10 from a local store's camera, you can hear the white utility truck accelerate into an intersection, where it smashes into a grey Subaru that was driving across. The massive impact sends the Subaru spinning a full 360 degrees, while the utility truck veers to the left of the camera, into an elementary school playground where the truck was found laying on its passenger side.

"Luckily, I wasn't right there on the corner. I would have been trapped in the madness," he said. In the crash footage, you can see Ransom "bobbing and weaving," as he described it, moving in and out of the vehicles on the street to get out of harm's way, eventually running over to the playground.

Between bites of ice cream, Ransom told NBC10 that he pulled a child out of one of the cars hit in the crash. "I grab a kid out, because he's stuck, frantic, pull him out." ... "Ain't nobody in there. Guy's in there. He's trapped in there. Then I run out and get myself together because my heart is boom, boom, boom, boom."

It's not clear from the interview exactly who Ransom pulled from the playground, though a spokesperson for the Philadelphia School District said that there were no kids on the playground at the time of the accident, and no students were injured. Live5News reports that at least 10 children were in the area, but there were no reports of injuries. 

Investigators revealed that the driver of the stolen utility truck was Robert Littlepage Jr., 18, of Georgia. According to authorities, Littlepage allegedly stole the truck from a nearby jobsite, where it was left running and unattended. He then "sped down the street and struck a parked SUV," and "jumped a curb, drove along a sidewalk, and then ran a red light." Littlepage was later charged with robbery, carjacking, and aggravated assault, CBS Philadelphia reports. Littlepage was also reportedly arrested for two burglaries nearby.

As for Ransom, "I'm just thankful — thankful to be alive right now. Thank you, Jesus," he said before he took another huge bite of ice cream. His interview ended with a shoutout to the unsung hero of the video, Philadelphia's Mister Softee, the ice cream he was joyfully eating through the interview.