The Santa Barbara Citizens Council on Crime recently awarded four officers—two from the Santa Barbara Police Department and two from the Lompoc Police Department—and one agent from Lompoc with the H. Thomas Guerry Award for Valor.
Here’s the story behind the Lompoc awards:
Lompoc’s Officer David Lamar had been notified of a fire in a trailer park nearby. As the smoke was rising, Lamar alerted the Fire Department while he was driving to the scene.
Park residents told Lamar there was a handicapped, elderly woman in the trailer. That’s when Agent Joseph Stetz arrived and used his baton to smash through the rear window.
The two officers entered the trailer, saw the woman lying in a cloud of smoke, and began to take her out. Stetz found the hallway too narrow to carry her through, however. Meanwhile, Officer Mark Powell arrived to see an open front door and peered inside. Through the smoke, he saw Stetz and helped get the woman out of the trailer.
“It’s great to honor these officers,” Bob Hart, president of the Santa Barbara Citizens Council on Crime, said. “They are getting the recognition that they deserve. They were in the middle of danger and took care
of business.”
H. Thomas Guerry was an officer from Santa Barbara who was killed during the middle of a shootout with bank robbers in 1970, and his name has been synonymous with valor and heroism since then. The award in his name recognizes those who exercise valor and heroism in the line of duty.
Intern Henry Houston compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send comments or ideas to the Sun via e-mail at intern@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 3, 2010.