BOWIE, Md. — Two Good Samaritans — Carlos Winston and high school student Zachary Canter — received the Bowie Police Department’s Chief’s Award on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, for rescuing a woman and her four children from a vehicle trapped beneath a fallen tree during a severe thunderstorm last July.
Police said the family has fully recovered.
Winston said he was riding as a passenger when he saw a tree down across the roadway and “red lights in the tree.” Hearing cries for help, he pushed through the brush to the car and lowered a rear window to reach the children — a baby and girls about 2, 4 and 6 years old.
“I took the baby out of her car seat and handed her to people who had gathered,” Winston said. “I did the same with the 2-year-old, and the other two crawled out the window.”
The mother, who had cuts to her head, was trapped in the front seat as a limb split the car along its center. Winston climbed through the window, reclined her seat and helped her slide out.
An ambulance and fire crew arrived soon after. Canter, who had been administering basic first aid, and Winston were later identified by responders, according to police.
Police Chief Dwayne Preston presented the awards at a ceremony Monday night.
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