Posted on: Thursday, October 14, 2004
Police awards go to 13 for aid to victims of Farrington crash
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Honolulu Police Department recognized 12 police officers and nine civilians yesterday for coming to others' aid in emergency, and sometimes dangerous, situations.
The largest number of honorees — eight police officers and five civilians — were acknowledged for their efforts July 23, 2003, after a collision on Farrington Highway near Honokai Hale that took the lives of police officer Ryan Goto and 10-year-old Alacia Williams of Ma'ili.
When a box fell out of a pickup truck heading eastbound on Farrington, a car behind it swerved to avoid the box, slamming into another car and sending it across the medial strip into Goto and two other police officers on motorcycles.
The officers and their motorcycles came to rest next to the highway in an area filled with dry brush, which caught fire.
Honored yesterday were police officers John Jerves and Jared Chong, who received the department's Warrior Bronze Medal of Valor; Lt. Sherman Chan and officers Dean Ikei, Denny Santiago, Michael Lucas-Medeiros, Carl Kalani and Renee Okunaga, who were awarded certificates of merit; and civilians Randy Ramos, Alexander Ojeda, Harold Silva, Leonard Olsen and Nicole Carlson, also given certificates of merit.
Jerves and Chong were on their motorcycles riding with the three officers struck in the collision. They managed to avoid the crash and radio for help.
Jerves used his fire extinguisher to keep the fire from Goto. Chong assisted Jerves and stayed with Goto while Jerves went to help carry the injured motorcycle officers out of the brush as the fire was bearing down on them.
Jerves and Chong both suffered from smoke inhalation while helping the others.
Lucas-Medeiros, Kalani and Okunaga were on duty at the time and among the first police officers to arrive at the scene.
Chan, who was off duty, stopped to help, as did civilians Ramos, Ojeda, Silva, Olsen and Carlson.
Chan, Ikei, Santiago, Lucas-Medeiros, Kalani, Okuda, Okunaga, Ramos, Ojeda, Silva and Olsen also went into the burning brush and helped carry out the injured officers.
Lucas-Medeiros, Kalani and Okunaga began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Goto, while Carlson stopped to assist with the CPR until firefighters and emergency medical technicians arrived.
Also honored yesterday were:
• Scott Labowski, for helping police capture a car-theft suspect April 28. • Frederick Patacchia, who helped police capture two robbery suspects March 19. • Lester Cole III and Louise Guiseffi, who came to the aid of a 17-year-old who was being beaten by two men in Mililani on Feb. 2. • Officer Chris Kim, who arrested a man April 6 in Kapi'olani Park whom he saw trying to pull a woman into a darkened area with a hand over her mouth and a knife in his other hand. • Officers Thomas Adriance Jr. and Brent Molale, for preventing a woman from jumping onto H-2 Freeway from the Meheula Parkway overpass on Feb. 21. • Sgt. David Hernandez, for keeping a man from jumping from H-1 Freeway into Waikele Gulch on Aug. 25, 2002.
