From David Richie:
Folsom officials and co-workers have honored police officers, firefighters, civilian employees, and residents for exceptional service - often provided at great personal risk.
Awards were given during a city luncheon last week, and more details about some of the recipients were released Thursday.
A drunken driver narrowly missed resident and Citizen Award recipient Dava Tennant before plowing into another vehicle near Blue Ravine Road and Russi Road about 3 p.m. Feb. 4, officials said. The DUI driver's car caught fire and Tennant moved quickly to pull the stunned man out of the vehicle. She then returned to the wreckage to assist the driver of the other vehicle.
The DUI driver walked away from the accident scene when he regained consciousness. Tennant then worked with responding police officers, giving them a complete description that allowed officers to arrest the man a short time later, officials said.
Here are more details about the honorees' actions:
Residents Beth DeCaprio, Gary Hamner and Heather Alfsen also received "Citizen Awards" while residents Patti Hartinian, Jim Serre and Carol Serre were named as "Volunteers of the Year."
Folsom Police Officer Tim Galovich received a departmental Bronze Star for his heroics during a harrowing incident about 8:30 a.m. Sept. 19 on the Natoma Crossing Bridge. Galovich encountered a suicidal man who wanted to leap off the bridge. After a wrestling match along the guard rail, 65 feet above the river, Galovich hit the man twice with his stun gun to finally bring him under control and give him another chance at life.
A few weeks after the incident, Galovich told The Bee's Stan Oklobdzija that his action was something "anyone in the department would do."
Officer Steve Bailey also was recognized for the "tenacity" he displayed while tracking down another distraught individual and preventing another suicide attempt.
Folsom police saluted Officers Rick Olson and Bill Bradshaw for their actions Jan. 13 after the crash that took the life of El Dorado County school teacher Susan McNew. She was struck by one of two cars street racing at 90 mph on Iron Point Road near the Folsom Premium Outlets.
The award to Olson and Bradshaw is bittersweet. Both men crawled into McNew's wrecked vehicle to give her first aid and CPR. The two street-racers, both 17-year-old Bella Vista High School students, were eventually given six months in juvenile hall for their parts in the fatal crash.
Detective Brian Lockhart was given a departmental "Exceptional Investigation" award for his work as a member of the department's Special Enforcement and Neighborhood Enhancement team. Lockhart developed leads in one drug case that led to the confiscation of about 1,300 grams of marijuana, 250 controlled prescription pills, $18,000 in cash and the arrests of several suspects.
Detective Sgt. Richard Hillman also was honored with the Supervisor of the Year award for his role in developing and implementing the SENET program.
The prestigious Officer of the Year award went to Officer John Lewis for his "commitment to the community and high level of service and dedication to the department."
The police department's high profile mounted patrol team, Sgt. Dirk Regan and Officer Eric Baade received distinguished service awards, as did Officer Lou Wright.
Many city firefighters also are being recognized, including several teams that went south last year to assist during the intense wild land fires in Southern California. Those firefighters include Battalion Chief Dean Cross, Firefighter- Paramedics Ben Signor, Taylor Reasoner, Nick Lawlor, Joe Irwin, Capt. Kendon Kuykendall, Capt. Thomas Sakaris, and Engineers Matthew McGee, Ralph Harkins.
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