Page 55 - November2018

oorig officers who saed oe of heir ow
■ BY DAN CAMPANA
The dangers of the job come in many forms, but so do the heroic acts.
In August, several officers came together to help a colleague who had suffered a potentially deadly injury while in pur- suit of a suspect. For their work, Officers Patrick Casey, Tay- lor Golden, Justin Simik-Valadez, Herman Otero and Joshua Plum each received the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation Officer of the Month awards at an October ceremony.
At approximately 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 4, Simik-Valadez and his partner were gathering information about a suspect in an earlier shooting when they learned the details of the suspect’s vehicle, its location and a description of the gun used in the incident. Other officers conducted surveillance on the car and observed the man return and attempt to drive off before be- ing stopped in traffic as the officers attempted to perform an investigatory stop.
Officials said the suspect then jumped out of his car and fled on foot. With the officers in pursuit, the man entered a yard surrounded by a wrought-iron fence topped with point- ed stakes. That didn’t deter Casey and Golden from continu- ing to apprehend him. The officers moved a bookcase next to the fence and Casey scaled the fence, landing atop a garbage can while supporting himself on the roof of a garage. When
the garbage can slipped out from under Casey, he impaled his arm on one of the fence’s metal spears.
Casey pulled his arm off the fence, and it was bleeding. Tay- lor called for an ambulance and asked for a tourniquet to stop the flow of blood. Meanwhile, other responding officers cap- tured the offender nearby on Chicago Avenue.
After receiving a tourniquet, Golden reached through the fence and fastened the tourniquet on Casey’s arm. Simik-Va- ladez responded and started packing the gaping wound with clotting gauze. Plum assisted by applying direct pressure to stop the massive loss of blood.
Casey moved to the front of the yard as multiple units re- sponded, including Gang Officers Herman Otero and Anthony Pavon. Otero, a Navy hospital corpsman, took immediate ac- tion by putting pressure to the brachial artery in an attempt to stop the loss of blood. Sergeant Todd Reyejak determined that Casey couldn’t wait for an ambulance and needed to be taken to Stroger Hospital immediately.
Casey was put in the back of the gang officers’ squad, Ote- ro and Plum continued to apply pressure to the wound and Pavon quickly drove to the hospital. Casey appeared ashen as the group arrived at the hospital, where emergency depart- ment staff treated him before he underwent surgery. Officials said doctors believed Casey likely would have bled to death if not for the officers’ team effort that night.
“We are proud to salute these officers and commend them for their heroic efforts that saved a police officer who was go- ing after the bad guy, trying to take another gun off the street while most of us are asleep comfortably in our beds,” CPMF Executive Director Phil Cline said. “These officers respond to dangerous situations and, while most people turn and run away, they go after the criminals, knowing that every illegal gun removed helps make the streets a little safer.
“Without this group effort, we may have lost an officer that night,” Cline added.
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54 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2018