Stamford Police Officer Recalls Finding Pooch That Escaped Miracle Crash on I-95

Until Thursday, not much was publicly known about how Carsen, a beige standard poodle who escaped from a horrific accident on Interstate 95 last month and who was missing for nearly a full day, was found.

But James Grabinski, a Stamford Police officer who came across the story on Fairfield Patch, sent an e-mail describing how he and his wife came upon Carsen nearly 24 hours after the crash as the dog darted in and out of traffic on the Post Road by the Fairfield-Westport border. The accident on I-95, in which Carsen is believed to have escaped through an SUV's moon roof blown out from the crash's impact, took place about 11:30 p.m. Feb. 3, and Grabinski said he and his wife found the dog about 10:40 p.m. Feb. 4.

"She was running in and out of traffic dodging cars, we stopped, opened my door to take a look and BAM she jumped in my lap," Grabinski wrote in his e-mail. "She wouldn't have lasted long, to be honest, due to the amount of vehicles, speed and darting back and forth."

Fairfield Police Sgt. Sue Lussier confirmed Thursday that the person who found Carsen was Stamford Police Officer James Grabinski. The person who found Carsen was only identified as a "Good Samaritan" by police at the time.

Grabinski said in his e-mail that he and his wife were amazed Carsen had no ID tags and were struck by how scared and frightened the dog was. "She stayed in my lap and licked my wife's face and hands. A wonderful, kind gentle dog, who then fell asleep while my wife held her," Grabinski wrote.

Grabinski said in his e-mail that he drove to the Fairfield Police Department with Carsen and was informed the dog was involved in an accident on I-95 the previous night. Grabinski, a former active duty U.S. Marine, was told Carsen was "a serviceman's family dog."

"Being a former active duty Marine it felt great to help a fellow military member out, being a Stamford Police Officer for 22 years, I know I did the right thing getting Carsen out of the Post Road and to a safe place to be returned to the family," Grabinski wrote.

Carsen wasn't far from where the accident took place. Firefighters at the time said the crash happened on a bridge over the Post Road in Fairfield's Southport neighborhood, which is next to the Westport border.

Carsen belongs to U.S. Air Force Sgt. David Everson and his wife, Jillian Everson, and Jillian's parents drove from Massachusetts to pick Carsen up.

David Everson had just returned from deployment to Iraq, and his wife and three young children were traveling from Jillian's parents' house to Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville, N.C. when their 2006 Nissan Quest was struck from behind by a tractor trailer and rolled over several times before landing in a snow bank. Miraculously, no one was injured.

Shortly after the crash, Jillian Everson said the only explanation for how Carsen escaped was that she got out through a moon roof that was blown out.