Police Dept.’s annual event honors 29 heroes with Purple Heart, Medal of Valor and Preservation of Life honors.

All stories courtesy the Los Angeles Police Foundation.

On Sept. 5, the LAPD hosted its annual “Above and Beyond” ceremony. This year’s event honored 29 Officers who demonstrated the highest level of courage and bravery in protecting the City.

This year’s event, hosted by entertainer Howie Mandel, took place at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel downtown.

This year’s event continued the awarding of Purple Heart, Medals of Valor and Preservation of Life honors. Purple Hearts have been distributed only 12 times in the history of the event. This year, 8 LAPD Officers were honored with the Purple Heart; 15 with the Medal of Valor; and seven with the Preservation of Life. (One Officer was awarded with both the Purple Heart and the Medal of Valor.)

The Preservation of Life medal is a recognition of efforts at de-escalation of public safety situations by avoiding the use of deadly force during dangerous encounters. The Department is one of only a handful in the country to bestow such an honor.

The Purple Heart recognizes Officers who have sustained grievous physical injury during a tactical situation and posthumously to the next of kin of those Officers who did not survive their injuries.

The Medal of Valor is awarded to Officers who distinguish themselves by conspicuous bravery or heroism above and beyond the normal demands of police service. To be awarded the Medal of Valor, an Officer shall have preformed an act displaying extreme courage while consciously facing imminent peril.

The medals are awarded by the Board of Police Commissioners and presented by the Chief of Police in the name of the Department at the annual ceremony. The award consists of a medal, ribbon, and citation. The Medal of Valor was first presented in 1925, and the Purple Heart was first awarded in 2009. The Preservation of Life honor was first awarded in 2016.

It is Alive!’s great honor to publish every year the names and stories of those honored.

This Year’s Honorees

Purple Heart

Calvin Drake
Edward Williams
Officer Richard Wuerfel
Officer Matthew Whitelaw
Officer James Sagbigsal
Officer Erik Cifuentes
Officer Armando Medina
Officer Rigoberto Vazquez (also Medal of Valor)

Medal of Valor

Officer Rigoberto Vazquez (also Purple Heart)
Officer Miguel Ruano
Officer Thomas Redshaw
Officer Bruce Adam
Officer Enrique Anzaldo
Officer Royce Burroughs
Officer Guy Dobine
Officer Joseph Dominguez
Officer Steve Hernandez
Officer Jose Martinez
Officer Howard Ng
Officer Phillip Peery
Officer Jonathan Pultz
Officer Eddie Roca
Officer Luis Valle

Preservation of Life

Officer Saul Carillo
Sgt. Jose Contreras
Officer Angel Guerra
Officer Adell Hodge
Officer Adrian Martinez
Det. Steve Reyes
Officer Daniel Rodriguez

The stories of their bravery follow.

Purple Heart

SWAT Search Warrant

Wall Shooting

On night of July 27, 2018, Mission Area Officers Miguel Alarcon and Nicole Minarik were conducting uniformed patrol in a marked black and white police vehicle when they observed a male driving a car that was later determined to be stolen. The Officers recognized the driver as a known gang member who was on federal probation for a weapons violation.

The Officers decided to conduct a probation
search of the suspect and investigate possible gang-related activity. Officer Minarik approached the driver as Officer Alarcon assumed a cover position on the passenger side of the vehicle. Officer Minarik instructed the driver to exit the vehicle. He aggressively complied and, without warning, produced a .380-caliber
M&P semi-automatic handgun, fired one round at Officer Minarik and struck her in the leg. When she fell to the ground, the suspect turned his attention toward Officer Alarcon and fired a single round, missing him.

In immediate defense of his life and the life of his partner, Officer Alarcon fired multiple rounds with his service pistol, striking the suspect three times and effectively stopping the deadly assault against the Officers. The suspect fell to the ground and was taken into custody without further incident. He later succumbed to his injuries.

Officer Minarik recovered from her injuries, returned to work, and is currently assigned to Training Bureau.

Gang Foot Pursuit

On the evening of May 13, 2016, Hollenbeck Area Gang Enforcement Detail Officers Miguel Ruano and Rigoberto Vazquez were conducting patrol in a neighborhood plagued by gang violence. As they drove through the neighborhood, they recognized a dangerous gang member with an outstanding arrest warrant standing on the sidewalk with a group of individuals. The two Officers approached the suspect, stopped their vehicle, and deployed to make an arrest. When the suspect noticed the Officers, he ran while holding onto his waistband, a practice commonly seen by gang members who are carrying a concealed firearm on their person.

The Officers chased the suspect, mindful of the dangers of going hands-on with a possibly armed suspect. Officer Vazquez, who was the closest to the suspect, gave him commands to stop and submit to arrest while closely monitoring his actions.

During the foot pursuit, the suspect collided with a streetlight pole, which caused him to lose his balance and run into a parked vehicle. With a clear visual of the suspect’s hands, Officer Vazquez saw it as an opportunity to approach the suspect and take him into custody. As he attempted to take physical control of the suspect, the suspect pulled a handgun from his waistband and aimed it directly at Officer Vazquez’s chest.

Officer Vazquez used one hand to redirect the gun away from his chest and head area while simultaneously attempting to control the suspect. The suspect, fully intending to murder the Officer, fired three rounds at point-blank range at Officer Vasquez, striking him in his upper bicep. After being shot, Officer Vasquez pushed the suspect to the ground, causing him to fall on top of the suspect while still redirecting his gun away from him.

Officer Ruano, who was close behind, noticed his partner had been shot and believed he was gravely wounded. Aware of the tactical situation, Officer Ruano closed the distance and straddled the suspect’s legs, as the suspect still had the gun in his hand and was trying to shoot at Officer Vazquez again. Officer Ruano fired multiple rounds at the suspect, effectively stopping his violent actions.

Arriving Officers placed a tourniquet above Officer Vazquez’s gunshot wound and took him to the hospital for treatment.

Medal of Valor

Attempted Suicide Prevented

On June 19, 1997, Van Nuys Police Officer Thomas Redshaw and his partner were assigned to the Van Nuys gang unit formerly known as Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH). They monitored a radio call of a possible victim attempting to commit suicide on the roof of an office building on Sepulveda Boulevard and quickly made their way to the top of the six-story building. Officer Redshaw immediately established contact with the distraught woman, who was contemplating jumping from the roof. Officer Redshaw spent approximately 15 minutes negotiating with the woman, who was straddling the wall with one leg on the roof side and one leg dangling above the abyss.

As Officer Redshaw continued to speak with the victim, she suddenly swung both legs over the edge of the roof wall and was now holding onto the edge of the wall with just her arms. The weight of the victim, unsupported by any foothold, quickly drained her arm strength, and she was visibly beginning to tire. Officer Redshaw locked eyes with the victim and knew she was having second thoughts. He quickly asked her if he could help her, and she nodded yes.

At great personal risk to his own life, Officer Redshaw made a desperate grab for her upper body just as she was losing her grip on the wall. When this happened, he was able to tenuously grab the victim around each bicep, stopping her fall. The grip was not ideal and was hampered by the victim’s chest being pressed against the outer wall of the roof. As Officer Redshaw pulled with all his might, the leverage that he would have been able to use with his legs was useless due to his locked legs pressed flush against the interior wall of the roof. Seeing Officer Redshaw’s predicament, his partner and the on-scene Sergeant ran forward and grabbed both Officer Redshaw and the victim, pulling them over the wall and back to safety.

Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, the victim and all the Officers involved were uninjured.

Downtown Shootout With Hostage

On the evening of Oct. 8, 2021, a male suspect shot at three different people in Downtown Los Angeles, striking one. He attempted to carjack someone else, steal another’s bike, and placed the barrel of his gun against a victim’s cheek and pressed the trigger. Fortunately, the gun failed to fire.

Central Area Patrol Officers located the suspect and chased him into an apartment building, where he ran out of their view. It was not known where in the building he was for some time. Video showed him grabbing a female victim and dragging her down a hallway. The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was notified and responded to the location.

The intelligence available led Officers to believe the suspect was possibly in an apartment located on the fourth floor, but they did not know if the female seen in the video was with him. The team began to plan for a possible hostage rescue, including placing breaching charges on two entrances to ensure they had immediate and direct access to the victim. As the SWAT Officers assembled on the door, things took a sudden, unexpected turn. The suspect dragged the victim in front of an apartment window and placed a gun to her temple.

Within seconds, the Officer-in-Charge decided to make a dynamic, explosive breach for only the sixth time in the storied history of LAPD SWAT. The countdown was initiated and both charges detonated, filling the air with deafening noise and smoke. The planned primary entrance did not open, as the suspect had placed a heavy file cabinet in front of the door, defeating the explosive charge.

The Officers used the secondary planned entry, which opened due to a charge Officer Bruce Adam placed. The smoke was still in the air as Officer Howard Ng deployed his flash bang into the entrance. Without hesitation, Officer Eddie Roca stepped into the apartment. Officers Ng, Adam, Enrique Anzaldo, Royce Burroughs, Guy Dobine, Joseph Dominguez, Steve Hernandez, Jose Martinez, Phillip Peery, Jonathan Pultz and Luis Valle followed, intent on locating the threat and rescuing the hostage.

The suspect had placed a large concrete kitchen island against the door. The charge knocked it back, but it was still squarely in the path of the team. The blast had pulverized the drywall into fine dust that now coated the surface of the island which lay at an angle. The SWAT Team flowed into the room as trained, each member working off the person in front of him, covering every inch of the room.

As Officer Roca moved into the apartment, he used his rifle-mounted light and observed the suspect facing him, while standing behind and slightly to the right of the victim. He heard the victim scream and briefly saw the suspect holding a gun to the victim’s chest with his right hand. The suspect used the victim as a shield as he moved behind a pillar in the apartment. Officer Roca feared the suspect was about to shoot and kill the victim, so he continued forward and then around to the side of the pillar. He located the suspect hiding behind a pillar, holding the hostage, pointing a pistol in his direction.

Officer Valle heard the victim screaming when he entered the apartment and saw Officer Roca move to the left side of the pillar. He momentarily stopped on the right side of the pillar and observed the suspect in a prone position with a gun in his right hand pointed at Officer Roca and the victim. To avoid a potential crossfire, he repositioned to another side of the pillar and stood to the right of Officer Roca.

Officer Valle noticed that the victim had broken free and created distance from the suspect. Officer Burroughs stepped toward the suspect and observed he had a gun in his hand. He grabbed the victim and alerted the team that the suspect was armed. He then pulled the victim to safety and let the team know the hostage had been rescued.

Officers Roca and Valle were the first to reach the suspect. They fired at the suspect, ending his deadly threat. The rest of the team continued to clear the room and verify there were no more suspects or victims.

The victim later said the suspect was firing his gun at the Officers as they entered. Although no impacts from the suspect’s gun were located, there were several rounds in the cylinder with hammer strikes indicating he had attempted to fire at the Officers as they entered. The victim also stated that she was convinced the suspect was going to kill her if the Officers had not made entry and rescued her.

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