text: ELK GROVE (CBS13) — A man who helped a family trapped a crash got a bill in the mail for his unselfish act. 
   
   Paramedics sent him the first-responder fee of nearly $150 after he says they only checked his pulse and gave him a bottle of water. 
   
   A photo shows the aftermath of the scary rollover crash that trapped a man and his three children trapped inside. 
   
   Derrick Deanda jumped into action and recounted the heart-pounding moment. 
   
   “I pulled up right as it happened,” he said. “There was a guy standing inside the van, because it was on its side, holding a 2 year-old infant.” 
   
   Deanda broke the glass to free the family before paramedics arrived. Everyone was OK. 
   
   But weeks later Deanda got a bill in the mail from the Cosumnes Community Services District with a $143 first-responder fee. 
   
   Deputy Chief Mike McLaughlin says his district billed the good Samaritan. 
   
   “We’re obligated to provide the same level of service, the same billing the same everything, for every patient we encounter,” he said. 
   
   Deanda became a patient, he says, when a paramedic at the scene checked him out after breaking the van window to help save the family inside. Deanda had a small cut. 
   
   “This is truly a unique situation,” he said. “In my 28 years, this is my first time I’ve run into a situation similar to this.” 
   
   The district began implementing the fee two years ago in a move it says prevents fire station brownouts. 
   
   But in this case, McLaughlin says he’d like to see the fee waived. 
   
   “There is a mechanism for appealing this. a mechanism for making this right. Our desire it to make it right,” he said. 
   
   But for now, this heroic act deserving of a medal has Deanda facing a bill. 
   
   “I mean why would I want to stop to help somebody if I’m going to get a bill for $150?” he said. 
   
   Deanda plans to appeal and hopes the matter is resolved before it goes to collections. ||||| A Good Samaritan who rescued a family from their crashed van has been billed by paramedics. 
   
   Derrick Deanda is being charged $143 after first responders checked his pulse and gave him a bottle of water after he saved a father and his three children from the rolled-over vehicle. 
   
   He was driving past the scene in Elk Grove, California, in September 2015 when he pulled over and saw the man standing in the vehicle holding a two-year-old child. 
   
   Scroll down for video 
   
   Derrick Deanda (left) is being charged $143 after first responders checked his pulse and gave him a bottle of water after he saved a father and his three children from the rolled-over vehicle 
   
   He was driving past the scene in Elk Grove, California, in September 2015 when he pulled over and saw the man standing in the vehicle holding a two-year-old child. He then smashed the window to see if the passengers were OK 
   
   Deanda then smashed a window to check if everyone was OK, but suffered a small cut in the process. 
   
   When paramedics arrived, they checked him over after attending to those inside the car. 
   
   But months later Cosumnes Community Services sent him the bill for the 'first responders fee'. 
   
   He told CBS Sacramento: 'I mean why would I want to stop to help somebody if I'm going to get a bill for $150?' 
   
   On Facebook, he posted a picture of the bill and a scary image of the crashed van. 
   
   'So I guess this is how Good Samaritans are treated when they stop at an accident scene to help somebody,' he wrote. 
   
   'I asked the paramedics for a bottle of water to clean my hand off because I had a small scrape on my hand they ask me questions and they consider that an assessment on me. 
   
   'They asked me for my name and information so I give it to him. Then a couple months later I get a bill for $143 for a bottle of water?' 
   
   When paramedics arrived, they checked him over after attending to those inside the car. But months later Cosumnes Community Services sent him the bill for the 'first responders fee' 
   
   'Makes you wonder why people don't want to stop to help at an accident scene. All I can say is the look on the man's face when I was able to break that windshield and get him and his kids out of that vehicle was all the thanks I needed. 
   
   'I'm glad I was able to help. But now I have a bill to pay and they won't let it go.' 
   
   Deputy Chief Mike McLaughlin confirmed his district billed Deanda. 
   
   ''We're obligated to provide the same level of service, the same billing the same everything, for every patient we encounter,' he told the station. 
   
   He said Deanda technically became a patient when he suffered the cut. 
   
   'This is truly a unique situation,' he said. 'In my 28 years, this is my first time I've run into a situation similar to this.' 
   
   The district began implementing the fee two years ago in a move it says prevents fire station brownouts. 
   
   But in this case, McLaughlin says he'd like to see the fee waived.
target: – Derrick Deanda saw a van on its side after a rollover crash in Elk Grove, California, broke windows to free the father and three kids trapped inside, and then ... got billed $143. "I pulled up right as it happened," Deanda recalls to CBS Sacramento of the September 2015 incident. "There was a guy standing inside the van, because it was on its side, holding a 2 year-old infant." After paramedics arrived, they briefly checked over Deanda, who had a small cut from breaking the glass, checking his pulse and giving him a bottle of water. That's why, weeks after the crash, he got a bill in the mail for a "first-responder fee." "We’re obligated to provide the same level of service, the same billing, the same everything, for every patient we encounter," explains deputy fire chief Mike McLaughlin. "I asked the paramedics for a bottle of water to clean my hand off because I had a small scrape on my hand they ask me questions and they consider that an assessment on me," Deanda wrote on Facebook, per the Daily Mail. McLaughlin says the fire department wants to "make it right" and waive the fee, but that hasn't happened yet, and Deanda plans to formally appeal. He also says the fee sends the wrong message: "Why would I want to stop to help somebody if I’m going to get a bill for $150?" The family members he helped are all OK.