Full Notification

SHERIFF LEE BACA HONORS LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT HEROES

On Wednesday, September 8, 2010, Sheriff Lee Baca presented 29 members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department with the Department’s highest honors during the Medal of Valor and Meritorious Conduct Awards Ceremony. The Valor and Meritorious Conduct medals are awarded annually to those who have performed acts of great bravery or heroism, above and beyond the call of duty, to save the lives of others while potentially placing their own lives at risk. In a special segment, two Department members received the Line of Duty award, which is awarded to Department members who, through no fault of their own, sustain serious or career debilitating injuries during the performance of job related functions. Both deputies fought back from severe injuries to return to work.

The awards ceremony, sponsored by Galpin Motors and the Commerce Casino, was held at the Quiet Cannon restaurant in the city of Montebello. The Master of Ceremonies, NBC-4 News Reporter Jennifer Bjorklund, narrated the awards, recounting the heroic actions of each award recipient before an audience of over 500 Department personnel and their guests. All of the incidents described shared one common thread: that these men and women leaders of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, placed in extraordinary situations, acted with extreme courage while consciously facing imminent danger.



• Two deputies rescued an elderly male from a burning house in the city of La Habra Heights.

• Deputy rescues injured hiker from the canyon floor in the Angeles National Forest.

• Deputy saves coworkers from a distraught and suicidal armed off-duty officer in the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station lobby.

• Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) deputies rescue team member after being shot by a barricaded suspect in Montebello.

• SEB deputies rescue several hostages after an armed robbery suspect broke into a residence in the city of Lakewood.

• Deputies rescue a suicidal man from the rooftop of a residence in Altadena.

• An off-duty deputy saves the lives of several shoppers at a retail store in West Hollywood from a woman armed with two knives and who had already stabbed several customers.

• Deputies save several people from an armed gunman after the suspect had shot four family members in the city of Hawaiian Gardens.

• Motorcycle deputy honored for his heroic recovery and return to work after he sustained severe injuries as a result of a collision in Malibu, when he was rammed by a fleeing bank robbery suspect.



Summaries of the events and photos from the awards ceremony can be found at www.lasd.org

SHB-91A 10 September 8, 2010

The following text plus photos from the Medal of Valor ceremony can be found at www.lasd.org :



Sheriff's Department Honors its own Heroes


SERGEANT DOUGLAS D. CREIGHTON DEPUTY ALFRED L. AGUILAR

On May 15, 2009, during the early morning hours, Sergeant Douglas Creighton and Deputy Alfred Aguilar were dispatched to a call of a residential fire. Deputy Aguilar arrived at the location within a few minutes and saw...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00




DEPUTY DARREL L. AIRHART

On August 9, 2009, Air Rescue 5 was dispatched to a rescue call of a woman who had fallen 40 feet off a rock to the canyon floor in the Angeles National Forest. She was in extreme pain and...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00



DEPUTY MARK L. WOOD

On July 7, 2009, a seemingly uneventful day quickly unfolded into a tragedy when a distraught off-duty police officer entered the Santa Clarita Valley Station Lobby. Unbeknownst to the deputies, the...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00



DEPUTY CLIPPER L. HACKETT, DEPUTY OSCAR O. BARRAGAN, SERGEANT ANTHONY J. BAUDINO, DEPUTY PATRICK W. GOLDEN, DEPUTY THOMAS R. MAYBERRY, DEPUTY ROBERT A. ERICKSON

On August 22, 2007, Sergeant Anthony Baudino and Deputies Oscar Barragan, Patrick Golden, Clipper Hackett, Thomas Mayberry and Robert Erickson, assigned to the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), were requested to assist Operation Safe Streets Bureau in the service of a high-risk search and arrest warrant. The suspect being sought was believed to be armed and dangerous and was wanted in connection with an attempted murder...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00



SERGEANT ERIC R. LINDBLOM, DEPUTY FREDDY Q. BROWN, DEPUTY VANESSA C. CHOW, DEPUTY JOHN F. DAVOREN, DEPUTY DAVID B. VASQUEZ

On October 12, 2009, Lakewood Station deputies were dispatched to a robbery-in-progress call. Witnesses reported three suspects armed with handguns committing a take-over robbery at...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00



DEPUTY REMBERTO L. CANDELARIO, DEPUTY LORRAINE M. PHILLIPPI

On September 20, 2009, Deputy Lorraine Phillippi responded to an attempt suicide call. Upon arriving at the location, she saw the distraught male laying on the rooftop, with his head and chest covered in blood. After confirming that the paramedics had been summoned, she positioned herself on top of a cinder block wall where she could...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00



DEPUTY CLAY GRANT JR.

What seemed like an ordinary off-duty day for Deputy Clay Grant Jr. quickly turned into a life and death confrontation on May 3, 2010, while shopping at a local retail store. As he walked down the main aisle of the store, he heard a woman scream and saw several people running frantically. Suddenly, he encountered a female who came around the corner holding up a knife in each hand approaching...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00



DEPUTY FREDDY Q. BROWN, DEPUTY CHRISTOPHER D. ALLENDE, DEPUTY JOEL ANDRADE, SERGEANT DANA L. CAMARILLO, DEPUTY JOSHUA CORRALES, DEPUTY JOSE R. DIAZ, SERGEANT GABRIELA HERRERA, DEPUTY DANIEL E. LEICHT, DEPUTY ARTHUR M. PEREZ, SERGEANT THOMAS J. VERNOLA, DEPUTY KASEY L. WOODRUFF

A seemingly quiet, uneventful morning quickly unveiled a horrific scene on May 6, 2010. While on patrol, Deputies Freddy Brown and Jose Diaz heard what they believed to be the sound of an assault rifle being fired in rapid succession. Once they...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00




DEPUTY JAMES P. MULAY

Deputy James Mulay never would have imagined the horrific sequence of events that would change his life on August 28, 2006. During an armed robbery of a local bank, an employee called 9-1-1 and hung up before saying anything. As a result, deputies were dispatched to the bank to...
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/10-valor-00




Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(323) 267-4800
Sent by MP


Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff