Two people saved a toddler who nearly drowned in a bathtub. One man jumped into a violent fight between an officer and a hit-and-run suspect. And five others stopped a suicidal man from breathing exhaust fumes, then calmed him down.
El Cajon Police Chief Clifford Diamond recognized the eight residents during the department's annual awards ceremony Friday, meant to honor exemplary actions.
Diamond also presented Sheriff's Deputy David Perrapato with a police star for having foiled a Vons grocery store robbery July 26, 2005. Many police officers were among those lauded for exemplary service.
The citizen award recipients were:
Charles Shaw and Teresa Rosser, who were given a Citizen's Lifesaving Award for helping revive an unconscious 2-year-old boy who had stopped breathing and turned blue on Jan. 19, 2006.
A baby sitter ran toward them carrying the boy and screaming for help. She said she'd been bathing him and had stepped out of the bathroom for a moment, when he slipped and fell face down into the water. Rosser began resuscitating the boy and Shaw called 911.
By the time paramedics arrived, the boy had coughed up water and started breathing. He was treated at Children's Hospital and released the next day to his parents in good condition.
Mark Richard Kierstead was given a medal of valor for stepping into a violent struggle on April 14, 2006, between Officer Robert Darrow and a man suspected of a hit-and-run crash near Second Street north of Main.
Kierstead first noticed the man dozing in Kierstead's front yard. He called police, thinking the man might need help.
Darrow responded and attempted to wake the sleeping man. When the man woke up, he suddenly attacked Darrow, pummeling his face. The two struggled and fell into a cactus.
Kierstead grabbed the officer's discarded flashlight and whacked the drunken man several times on the back of his head, which caused him to stop his attack and run. Darrow and other officers chased the man for two blocks, then arrested him.
A Citizen Meritorious Service Award was given to Priscila Castillo, Tasha Peale, the Rev. Ed Stingley, Ryan Guffey and Edward Curione for stopping a suicidal man from breathing his car's exhaust fumes and then calming him down on Dec. 12, 2005, before police arrived.
The man had driven to a parking lot on the 500 block of Jamacha Road and attempted to commit suicide by connecting a garden hose to the exhaust of his idling car and closing himself inside with the other end.
Castillo saw what was happening and told Peale to call 911. Peale made the call and sought help from Stingley, who recruited other helpers. Stingley and Curione tried to calm the man down and Guffey removed the exhaust hose. Police said the man would have died if the group had not helped.
Mark Arner: (619) 542-4556; mark.arner@uniontrib.com
