Four Caddo Sheriff’s deputies and a Shreveport fireman received the Sheriff’s Office Certificate of Meritorious Service today for acts that saved the lives of two women and a child.
Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator presented the awards this morning during a ceremony at the Caddo Correctional Center. Recipients were Sheriff’s Cpl. Erik Lawrence, Cpl. Kenny Hester, Deputy Matthew Cowden, Deputy James Willis, and Shreveport Fire Capt. Roy Hightower.
The Certificate of Meritorious Service is presented to members of the Sheriff’s Office and also to private citizens who save the life of another through “swift and decisive action in a personally non-life threatening situation.”
On March 26, Cpl. Lawrence and Capt. Hightower were in separate vehicles traveling over the Red River Bridge when they saw a woman sitting on the bridge railing facing the Red River. An unidentified man had stopped his vehicle on the bridge and was trying to talk the woman into coming down from the railing. Both Lawrence and Hightower stopped to assist.
While the unidentified man distracted the woman, Lawrence and Hightower approached from behind and worked together to pull the woman to safety.
On April 13, Cpl. Hester responded to a residence in Keithville where a 2-year-old boy had fallen into a swimming pool and wasn’t breathing. Hester performed CPR on the boy. The child aspirated water and solid food and was able to regain his breathing. He was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and was later released with no further complications.
On May 18, Deputies Cowden and Willis were dispatched to a 911 hang-up call in the 5800 block of Keithville-Springridge Road. When the deputies arrived at the residence, they observed a large amount of smoke coming from the front door. Inside the home, the deputies found a woman lying on the living room floor. The deputies entered the smoke-filled residence and pulled the woman to safety. They re-entered the house to check for other possible victims. Later it was learned that the woman had fallen asleep with a lit cigarette and set her bedroom on fire. She was able to call 911 but was overcome by smoke as she attempted to crawl out of the house.
