BOZEMAN — It’s the kind of scene you’d expect in an action movie.
A video sent in by Town Pump employees shows a man leaping into a moving car — but he’s no James Bond stunt double. To understand why, we have to go back to the beginning.
WATCH: Quick-thinking bank employee stops runaway car after driver's medical emergency
“Have you ever experienced anything like that?” I asked.
“Definitely not, no. It was pretty crazy,” said Markus Klewin.
Klewin, a Bozeman native, recently graduated from Montana State and now works at First Security Bank — conveniently located across the street from the Town Pump on 19th Avenue.
“How often would you say you come to the Town Pump or casino?” I asked.
“Probably Town Pump all the time. Got to get my fix of caffeine, you know,” Klewin replied.
But last Monday, Klewin stopped into the casino. What he saw when he left was anything but routine.
“Basically, I just walked out, and then I see this car kind of going around in circles. At first, I just thought it was somebody doing donuts in the parking lot to be fun or whatever,” Klewin said.
In reality, Town Pump employees told me a regular customer at the casino had gotten into his car, started it, and suffered a seizure. Surveillance video shows him losing control of both his body and the vehicle.
“Then it just kept going and going, and I was kind of freaked out. I walked up to see what was going on, and it looked like he had fallen out of the vehicle,” Klewin said.
The man had fallen out during the medical emergency while the car, in reverse, circled around him — miraculously missing both him and Klewin’s truck.
WATCH: Unedited Surveillance footage of the event
Realizing the danger, Klewin relied on instinct.
“Kind of just natural instincts to jump in that car, slam on the brakes and try not to escalate the situation any further,” he said.
After stopping the vehicle, Klewin ran inside, and employees called 911. EMTs arrived quickly, and the man is now recovering. Curious to see Klewin’s actions, Town Pump employees checked their surveillance footage.
“What were you guys thinking when you watched that back?” I asked.
“I was terrified, to be honest,” said Hunter Hash, district manager of the Town Pump casino.
Hash wasn’t there when it happened, but he knew the story needed to be shared.
“We wanted to make sure people knew there were people out there who can act like Spider-Man — jump in a car and save somebody,” Hash said.
For Klewin, seeing the footage for the first time was eye-opening.
“Kind of crazy — I didn’t honestly realize the car was going that fast. I don’t know, just kind of blacked out during the whole thing,” he said.
And I had to ask: what was it like jumping into a moving car?
“Banged up my ankle a little bit, but that’s nothing,” Klewin said.
Despite the bruised ankle, Klewin believes there was a reason he was there that day.
“I just like to thank God for putting me in that position in the first place, just being there in the right place, right time. I think of myself as a guy who’s just trying to do the right thing. But it feels good, though,” he said.
