MEDAL OF VALOR - Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

MEDAL OFVALORThe Medal of Valor award isthe highest honor a member ofthe Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Departmentcan receive.It is awarded to persons whodistinguish themselvesby displaying great courage,Deputies Randell Heberle andRichard WaltersMedal of ValorOn October 17, 1999, DeputiesHeberle and Walters were dispatchedto a traffic accident in theAgua Dulce area. Upon theirarrival, they found a single-car collision,which had ignited a fire inthe vehicle and the brush surroundingit. They heard a womanscreaming for help and noticedshe was prone on the ground inthe adjoining field, near her vehicle.Despite the fast moving fire,Deputies Heberle and Walterswent to her rescue. Upon reachingher, the deputies discoveredthe woman was intoxicated anddid not want to leave her vehicleor her dog. Deputies Heberle andWalters had no choice but to pickher up and drag her away from thefire. As they attempted to affecttheir escape, they found their originalroute blocked by flames. Theydiscovered the only way out wastoward a chain link fence. As theyraced for their lives, Los AngelesCounty Firefighters quickly madean access hole in the fence. Thedeputies narrowly escaped withthe woman and her dog in tow, asthe raging fire engulfed the areabehind them.Deputy Carlos PonceMedal of ValorOn the evening of January 15, 1998,off-duty Deputy Carlos Poncearrived at Conroy's Flowers inLa Mirada. Deputy Ponce noticeda man in the shop acting suspiciouslywith two teenage femaleclerks. Deputy Ponce selectedsome roses and returned to thecounter to make his purchase. AsDeputy Ponce began to walk out,the man pulled a gun on the countergirl and announced his intentionsto rob the store. DeputyPonce pulled out his handgun,identified himself as a deputy sheriff,and instructed everybody to goto the floor. Unfortunately, apatron entered the store andwalked directly into DeputyPonce's line of fire. The suspectturned and raised his weapontoward Deputy Ponce. DeputyPonce fired at the suspect, butmissed. The suspect returned fire,hitting Deputy Ponce in the face.Despite the incredible pain andblood flowing from his wound,Deputy Ponce managed to fire andwound the suspect, forcing him toflee the store. The bullet that hitDeputy Ponce shattered his jaw infour places before traveling downto his collarbone area. Despite hissevere injuries, Deputy Ponce perseveredthrough painful medicalprocedures and physical therapy.Remarkably, he returned to workwithin a year.above and beyond the call of duty,in the face of immediatelife-threatening perilTop row, from left to right:1) Mark Wise, 2) Richard Sanchez, 3) Mark McCorkle, 4) James Hellmold, 5) Matthew Vander Horck,6) Eliezer Vera, 7) Michael Metcalf, 8) Gregg Gossett.Bottom row from left to right:9) Sheriff Baca, 10) Carlos Ponce, 11) Richard Walters, 12) Randell Heberle, 13) Michael Sambolich,14) Anthony Pachot, 15) Rick Hernandez, 16) Larry Steward, 17) James Harrell, 18) Louis Vigil.and with full knowledge ofthe risk involved.42 MEDAL OF VALOR YEAR IN REVIEW 2001YEAR IN REVIEW 2001MEDAL OF VALOR43

MERITORIOUSCONDUCTMEDALThe Meritorious Conduct Medal isthe second highest awarda Departmental member can receive.It is awarded topersons who place themselvesin immediate periland perform an act of heroism and/orsave the life of another person.Meritorious Conduct Gold Medal -Awarded for acts of heroism or while saving thelife of another person where the employeeplaced him/herself in immediate peril which waslikely to cause them harm or injury.Sergeants James Hellmold,Mark McCorkle,Deputies Richard Sanchez,Matthew Vander Horck, andMark WiseMeritorious ConductGold MedalIn the late night hours ofDecember 19, 2000, ComptonStation received a 9-1-1 callregarding a burning residence.Deputy Sanchez arrived at thescene and saw the residence fullyengulfed in flames. The panicstrickenresident rushed to DeputySanchez, screaming that her 5-year-old grandson was still insidethe location. At the same time,other Sheriff's units arrived on thescene. Deputy Sanchez climbedinto the house through a windowand started to search, however,flames and intense heat forced himto retreat. Deputies Vander Horckand Wise, along with SergeantsHellmold and McCorkle, enteredthe residence through the backdoor. Despite repeated efforts toforce their way through what wasnow an inferno, they were unableto save the child. This tragic deathdoes not diminish their heroicefforts.Deputy Louis VigilMeritorious ConductGold MedalNear midnight on June 26, 2000, inthe City of Cudahy, Deputy Vigilwas patrolling near the FlorenceAvenue Bridge. He observed aman hanging over the protectiveedge of the bridge, preparing tojump into the Los Angeles riverbed.Deputy Vigil immediately stoppedhis vehicle and requested assistance.He approached the manand began to talk with him.Deputy Vigil gradually moved closerto this desperate individual, tobe in a position where he couldreach him. The man suddenlyyelled that he wanted to die andreleased his grip from the ledge.Without a thought for his ownsafety, Deputy Vigil reached overand grabbed the man, before hefell to his death. His strength wasnot adequate to pull the man backto safety, but Deputy Vigil held onuntil help arrived. Deputies KurtBuxkemper, Freddie Garcia, andTony Forlano helped lift the suicidalman safely from the bridge's ledgeand onto the sidewalk.Deputies Rick Hernandez,Anthony Pachot,Michael Sambolich, andLarry StewardMeritorious ConductSilver Medal, andDeputy James HarrellMeritorious ConductGold MedalOn April 7, 2000, the Los Angelesarea was experiencing a particularlyintense rain storm. Duringthat evening, the Air-5 crewreceived a rescue response call,advising them of "persons in thewash." They responded to the BigDalton Wash area, located in theCity of Azusa. Upon their arrival,the crew saw two teenage boys inthe water being swept away by thecurrent. As the victims headeddownstream toward certain deathin the fast approaching catchbasin, Deputy Steward, the pilot,maneuvered the helicopter intoposition as Deputy Pachot, hiscopilot, guided the crew to wherethe boys were last seen. AsDeputy Sambolich maintained visualclearance of nearby powerlines, Deputy Hernandez operatedthe winch that tethered DeputyHarrell. Deputy Harrell was loweredon the rescue hoist to the firstvictim. Struggling against theforce of the current, Deputy Harrellwas able to secure the rescue harnessaround the young man.Deputy Hernandez slowly raisedthe deputy and victim and depositedthem at the top of the wash.Deputy Harrell was again loweredto the remaining victim, who wasquickly losing his battle with thefrigid and fast-moving water.Unable to secure the boy in therescue harness, Deputy Harrellgrabbed the boy and held onto himwith his bare hands. DeputyHernandez immediately hoisted thepair out of the water far enough toallow the pilot to maneuver them toshore.Deputy Gregg GossettMeritorious ConductSilver MedalOn the evening of July 24, 2000,Deputy Gossett was on routinepatrol in West Hollywood Station'sarea when he received a radio callto respond to an apartment fire.Upon his arrival, he observed thicksmoke emanating from the complex.He attempted to extinguishthe flames coming from a first floorunit with his fire extinguisher, to noavail. Deputy Gossett yelled andlooked for injured or trapped personsinside, but found no one. Hemoved onto the surrounding units,yelling for the residents to evacuate.The fire and smoke werespreading rapidly, when DeputyGossett spotted a 71-year oldwoman vainly attempting to fleeher second floor apartment. As heraced up the staircase and pickedher up, an explosion occurred,shattering the windows and nearlyknocking them down. Despite theexplosion, smoke and flames,Deputy Gossett was able to carrythe elderly woman to safety.Deputies Keith Almond,Michael Metcalf, andEliezer VeraMeritorious ConductSilver MedalIt was nearing midnight on NewYear's Eve, 1999, when CenturyStation deputies received a call ofa male standing on the CenturyFreeway guard rail, threatening tojump off the overpass. DeputiesAlmond, Metcalf, and Veraresponded in separate radio cars.The deputies observed a manstanding on the ledge of the overpass.Deputy Vera approached theman and attempted to talk himback to a position of safety. AsDeputy Vera attempted to movecloser, the man yelled at him tostop and threatened to jump. Asthis was occurring, DeputiesAlmond and Metcalf quietlyapproached the man from behind.Deputy Vera continued talking tothe man, maintaining eye contactwith him. As the suicidal man liftedhis foot from the railing, DeputyAlmond reached out, grabbed hisjacket, and began pulling him backover the guard rail. Deputies Veraand Metcalf assisted DeputyAlmond in hauling the man up andover the barrier to safety.Meritorious Conduct Silver Medal -Awarded for acts of heroism or while attemptingto save the life of another person where theemployee placed him/herself in a position ofpotential harm or injury.44 MERITORIOUS CONDUCT YEAR IN REVIEW 2001YEAR IN REVIEW 2001MERITORIOUS CONDUCT45