Fairfax County sheriff’s deputies are earning accolades for their life-saving efforts — both on and off the job.
Five deputies are slated to receive awards at the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce‘s valor awards ceremony next month. Three of those deputies were off-duty or on a break when they stepped in to save someone’s life.
According to the Fairfax County sheriff’s office, the deputies who will receive awards are:
Mario Torres, pictured, who was with his wife on a cruise ship returning to Baltimore from the Bahamas when he spotted a suicidal man with one leg dangling over the deck railing and pointing a knife at his own chest. Torres, who is assigned to the sheriff’s office crisis negotiation team, talked with the man for three hours, eventually convincing him to back down from the railing and put away the knife. Later, the passenger became paranoid that his food was poisoned and wouldn’t eat unless Torres brought him the food.
Andrew Mollison and Kevin Reilly, who were on a lunch break when they encountered a traffic crash in Chantilly. A sport utility vehicle driver was ejected from the vehicle and pinned underneath it. They and two passers-by lifted the vehicle, secured it with a jack and waited with the injured driver for rescue units to arrive.
Nadeem Mian, who saved an inmate who was choking at the county’s Adult Detention Center. Mian saw an inmate return to his cell during dinner, looking distressed. Mian followed the inmate and saved him when the inmate began choking.
Teena Putman, who saved the life of a murder suspect who tried to commit suicide by slamming his head against his cell wall. Putman, who is a certified paramedic, responded to the cell, controlled the inmate’s bleeding and put a cervical collar on him before rescue units arrived to take him to a hospital.
The valor awards ceremony will take place on June 6. People can register to attend at events.fccc.org.
