Five Officers Honored for Preventing Man From Taking Own Life
By Joan Gaylord
Five local police officers were awarded the New York State Senate Liberty Medal for saving the life last April of a troubled teenager who threatened to jump from an overpass in Pleasantville.
State Sen. Pete Harckham (D-Lewisboro) presented the medals at last Tuesday’s Mount Pleasant Town Board meeting to Sgt. Juan Garcia and Officer Erin Holly of the Pleasantville Police Department, Sgt. Walter O’Keeffe and Detective Lauren Valentino from the Mount Pleasant Police Department and Detective Rob Barber from the Westchester County Department of Public Safety.
The medals, the highest honor bestowed on an individual by the state Senate, are awarded for “actions of exceptional bravery above and beyond the call of duty.”
“We have thousands of years of conditioning to run away from danger, but with your training, you ran towards it,” Harckham told the officers.
The 19-year-old emotionally disturbed man threatened to jump from an overpass over the Saw Mill River Parkway at Manville Road.
Harckham said on that morning, Garcia positioned himself on the parkway to coordinate traffic control and deployment of lifesaving equipment with county police. Meanwhile, Holly, Barber, Valentino and O’Keeffe began speaking to the man on the bridge.
Using verbal de-escalation tactics to calm him, the officers were able to carefully move closer. After 30 minutes, they were close enough to the man that they were able to secure him, remove him from danger and transport him to Westchester Medical Center for evaluation.
“The Pleasantville Police Department is extremely proud of the way Sgt. Garcia and Officer Holly responded that morning,” said Pleasantville Police Chief Erik Grutzner. “They showed great compassion and patience, while ensuring that the young man received the help that he needed.”
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