Camden County police lieutenant saves man's life after crash

Camden County, Pa. (WTXF) - A Camden County police lieutenant shared the stage Thursday with the man whose life he saved.

54-year-old Anthony Sapienza tears up as he relives his daughter's wedding day while watching the video

Sapienza was driving northbound on I-295 near Moorestown the morning of July 24 when he went into cardiac arrest. He sideswiped another car, then rammed into the guardrail.

By fluke, a Camden County police lieutenant was southbound, heading to work much later than usual. Kevin Lutz saw the accident, pulled over and dragged Sapienza from the car.

"Me, along with another passerby began to conduct chest compressions and conduct CPR," he said.

EMTs ultimately shocked Sapienza back to life. He recovered quickly and 18 days after his near-death experience, he was there in Mexico to walk his daughter Krystina down the aisle. All thanks to a never really off-duty police Lieutenant.

"I feel like all the things that had to fall into place for everything to work out the way they did it truly was a miracle," daughter Krystina Sapienza said.

On this day, Lutz was among was among several dozen Camden County officers receiving awards for their good deeds.

As Sapienza looked around the room, he couldn't help but think.

"Let's face it today the police got a bad rap and it's wrong. It's so wrong," he said.

Anthony Sapienza was there for his daughter because Kevin Lutz was there for him.

On the day after the wedding, he texted Lutz a photo of himself with his daughter, along with a simple sentiment: "I'm just very thankful that God put him in my path."

Sapienza and Lt. Lutz stopped by Good Day Philadelphia Friday morning to share more about their story.