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Awards presented for valor
  
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By Michele Sample
On Nov. 18, Douglas County Sheriff David Weaver awarded police officers, citizens and civilians for their bravery, life-saving acts, and unprecedented achievements.
Douglas County deputies Joel White and Michelle Herring were the proud recipients of the prestigious Purple Heart award. The Purple Heart is awarded to employees who suffer serious line of duty injuries caused by the act of an aggressor and which are directly related to their law enforcement of detention service, either on or off-duty.
In June, White was working a graveyard shift and responded to a “Reddi” call, which stands for “report every drunk driver immediately” and refers to reports made by the members of the public about someone they suspect is driving drunk, Deputy Cocha Heyden, public information officer said.
White responded to the call on C-470, and noticed the suspect’s car, matching the description, was pulled over off to the side of the highway. The suspect was out of his car, apparently fixing the left front passenger side tire.
“When I approached the suspect, he gave me a look like ‘Oh great, here we go’,” White said. “I didn’t think it was going to go very well, so I called for cover.”
Lone Tree police officer Ricky Romero came to the scene, and after the suspect became belligerent, White decided to arrest the man. While he was bringing the suspect’s arms back to be handcuffed, the suspect punched Romero in the face. White and the suspect began to scuffle, and rolled over a fence, and at some point in the fight, White said he got tasered in the knuckle.
“The taser probe went through my knuckle,” White said.
Not realizing he was hit by the tasor immediately, the two continued to fight, and when White began running after the suspect, he felt a strong pain in his hand.
“The taser is like a fish-hook, so we couldn’t pull it out,” White said.
After Romero and White managed to get the suspect into custody, not only had White thrown his back out, due to a previously herniated disc, but he went to the hospital and underwent an hour and a half surgery on his knuckle.
“They had to get the taser probe out with a drill, like one you would use to core an apple,” White said. “They basically went through the entire knuckle to get it out.”
When the taser is fired, it sends out two probes, resembling long needles, that are meant to stick to the body, White said. Once they are in the skin, they can deliver an electrical charge of about 50,000 volts.
After a two week recuperation period, White went back on patrol. He made a big change recently, moving to the hiring office.
“I have worked weekends for five years, and I decided not to anymore for my family.”
White said he still has a loss of movement in his finger, and can’t open jars.
“The whole thing is kind of funny,” he added.
White’s 18-year-old son had never been excited about his father’s career, and White said this incident stressed his son out.
“When I found out about the award I was actually talking to him on the phone,” White said. “My son said ‘I’ll be there, I wouldn’t miss this for the world’.” White also has a 13-year-old son, a 10-year-old daughter, who he referred to as “his princess,” and a 5-year-old son.
“My kids think the award is awesome,” he added.
Michelle Herring, a nine year veteran police officer with Douglas County also received the Purple Heart award. She referred to her career with the sheriff’s office as “the most amazing job, and that it is rare to work with such a larger percentage of great people.”
Off-duty and on her way to the office, Herring, in her patrol car and civilian clothes happened to be the closest available unit to a vehicle pursuit that originated in El Paso County.
“I advised the officer over the radio that I was in civilian clothes, and I had my stop sticks with me,” Herring said. Stop sticks are used to slow vehicles down by slowly deflating the tires, so the vehicle is disabled.
“I had permission to do that, and was waiting for the vehicle in pursuit to come my way,” Herring said.
Pulling off I-25 on the Plum Creek Parkway exit, the suspect drove right up behind her vehicle. There was heavy construction going on at the time, and the suspect pulled into the Western Convenience gas station area, and so did Herring.
“When I saw the suspect driving back out, I tried to deter his access from leaving,” Herring said. The official procedure is not to provide a road block, but position her vehicle so there is an avenue of escape.
This is when Herring said the suspect accelerated his vehicle, traveling at 45 m.p.h., head-on into her car. Herring’s vehicle spun 180 degrees.
“He still had his kidnap victims, his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter in the car when he rammed into me,” Herring said.
The suspect then got out and began fleeing on foot, and White and another officer at the scene from Castle Rock were able to apprehend him.
Herring suffered a torn disc in her back and rib dislocation. She remembers at the time of the incident thinking, “He’s really going to hit me,” and after shouting something out inappropriate on the radio, she said, “I just got hit.” The dispatch employees were extremely worried when Herring didn’t respond, but she had already left the vehicle to run after the suspect.
“I didn’t have my pack set, the radio you carry with you, because I wasn’t in my uniform.”
Sheriff Weaver said these awards symbolize the commitment that members of the sheriff’s office and citizens have to their community.
“I am truly humbled to be surrounded by a group of people that show true heroism and dedication on a daily basis,” Weaver said.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Award Recipients:
Purple Heart, Deputy Joel White, Deputy Michelle Herring
Life-Saving, Deputy Jason Cirbo
Meritorious Conduct, Sgt. Kevin Moffitt, Deputies Christy Odum, Bryan Ward, Chris Stadler, Mike Wolfe, John Glassburner, Gerritt Kaufman, Michelle Herring
Sheriff’s Cross, Sgt. Ken Burge
Sheriff’s Commendation, Deputy Bill Ruppart, Deputy Paul Joyce, Deputy Paul Monteville, Victim Advocate Debbie Boyle-Grimwood, Lone Tree Citizens, Kathy and Gary Weimer and Sherri and Mike Folsom
“They had to get the taser probe out with a drill, like one you would use to core an apple. They basically went through the entire knuckle to get it out.”
Deputy Joel White, Douglas County Sheriff’s office Purple Heart recipient
Douglas County deputies Joel White and Michelle Herring were the proud recipients of the prestigious Purple Heart award. The Purple Heart is awarded to employees who suffer serious line of duty injuries caused by the act of an aggressor and which are directly related to their law enforcement of detention service, either on or off-duty.
In June, White was working a graveyard shift and responded to a “Reddi” call, which stands for “report every drunk driver immediately” and refers to reports made by the members of the public about someone they suspect is driving drunk, Deputy Cocha Heyden, public information officer said.
White responded to the call on C-470, and noticed the suspect’s car, matching the description, was pulled over off to the side of the highway. The suspect was out of his car, apparently fixing the left front passenger side tire.
“When I approached the suspect, he gave me a look like ‘Oh great, here we go’,” White said. “I didn’t think it was going to go very well, so I called for cover.”
Lone Tree police officer Ricky Romero came to the scene, and after the suspect became belligerent, White decided to arrest the man. While he was bringing the suspect’s arms back to be handcuffed, the suspect punched Romero in the face. White and the suspect began to scuffle, and rolled over a fence, and at some point in the fight, White said he got tasered in the knuckle.
“The taser probe went through my knuckle,” White said.
Not realizing he was hit by the tasor immediately, the two continued to fight, and when White began running after the suspect, he felt a strong pain in his hand.
“The taser is like a fish-hook, so we couldn’t pull it out,” White said.
After Romero and White managed to get the suspect into custody, not only had White thrown his back out, due to a previously herniated disc, but he went to the hospital and underwent an hour and a half surgery on his knuckle.
“They had to get the taser probe out with a drill, like one you would use to core an apple,” White said. “They basically went through the entire knuckle to get it out.”
When the taser is fired, it sends out two probes, resembling long needles, that are meant to stick to the body, White said. Once they are in the skin, they can deliver an electrical charge of about 50,000 volts.
After a two week recuperation period, White went back on patrol. He made a big change recently, moving to the hiring office.
“I have worked weekends for five years, and I decided not to anymore for my family.”
White said he still has a loss of movement in his finger, and can’t open jars.
“The whole thing is kind of funny,” he added.
White’s 18-year-old son had never been excited about his father’s career, and White said this incident stressed his son out.
“When I found out about the award I was actually talking to him on the phone,” White said. “My son said ‘I’ll be there, I wouldn’t miss this for the world’.” White also has a 13-year-old son, a 10-year-old daughter, who he referred to as “his princess,” and a 5-year-old son.
“My kids think the award is awesome,” he added.
Michelle Herring, a nine year veteran police officer with Douglas County also received the Purple Heart award. She referred to her career with the sheriff’s office as “the most amazing job, and that it is rare to work with such a larger percentage of great people.”
Off-duty and on her way to the office, Herring, in her patrol car and civilian clothes happened to be the closest available unit to a vehicle pursuit that originated in El Paso County.
“I advised the officer over the radio that I was in civilian clothes, and I had my stop sticks with me,” Herring said. Stop sticks are used to slow vehicles down by slowly deflating the tires, so the vehicle is disabled.
“I had permission to do that, and was waiting for the vehicle in pursuit to come my way,” Herring said.
Pulling off I-25 on the Plum Creek Parkway exit, the suspect drove right up behind her vehicle. There was heavy construction going on at the time, and the suspect pulled into the Western Convenience gas station area, and so did Herring.
“When I saw the suspect driving back out, I tried to deter his access from leaving,” Herring said. The official procedure is not to provide a road block, but position her vehicle so there is an avenue of escape.
This is when Herring said the suspect accelerated his vehicle, traveling at 45 m.p.h., head-on into her car. Herring’s vehicle spun 180 degrees.
“He still had his kidnap victims, his girlfriend and her 14-year-old daughter in the car when he rammed into me,” Herring said.
The suspect then got out and began fleeing on foot, and White and another officer at the scene from Castle Rock were able to apprehend him.
Herring suffered a torn disc in her back and rib dislocation. She remembers at the time of the incident thinking, “He’s really going to hit me,” and after shouting something out inappropriate on the radio, she said, “I just got hit.” The dispatch employees were extremely worried when Herring didn’t respond, but she had already left the vehicle to run after the suspect.
“I didn’t have my pack set, the radio you carry with you, because I wasn’t in my uniform.”
Sheriff Weaver said these awards symbolize the commitment that members of the sheriff’s office and citizens have to their community.
“I am truly humbled to be surrounded by a group of people that show true heroism and dedication on a daily basis,” Weaver said.
Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Award Recipients:
Purple Heart, Deputy Joel White, Deputy Michelle Herring
Life-Saving, Deputy Jason Cirbo
Meritorious Conduct, Sgt. Kevin Moffitt, Deputies Christy Odum, Bryan Ward, Chris Stadler, Mike Wolfe, John Glassburner, Gerritt Kaufman, Michelle Herring
Sheriff’s Cross, Sgt. Ken Burge
Sheriff’s Commendation, Deputy Bill Ruppart, Deputy Paul Joyce, Deputy Paul Monteville, Victim Advocate Debbie Boyle-Grimwood, Lone Tree Citizens, Kathy and Gary Weimer and Sherri and Mike Folsom
“They had to get the taser probe out with a drill, like one you would use to core an apple. They basically went through the entire knuckle to get it out.”
Deputy Joel White, Douglas County Sheriff’s office Purple Heart recipient
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