Warrant Division Deputies Honored at 37th Annual Valor Awards

Upper Marlboro, MD…Sheriff Melvin C. High and the heads of all of the county’s public safety agencies, including the Police Department, Fire/EMS, Homeland Security and the Department of Corrections, joined County Executive Rushern L. Baker to celebrate the 37^th Annual Public Safety Valor Awards Luncheon to recognize members from each agency for exceptional performance and bravery in service. The Valor Awards Luncheon is a program of the Prince George’s County Public Safety Assistance Program.  

 

Recipients from the Office of the Sheriff were Sergeant Frederick Minor, Corporal Michael Flick and Corporal Thomas Russell, each of whom received a Bronze Medal of Valor for their courage and heroic actions during an attempt to serve an arrest warrant that turned violent.

The details of their actions - read during the ceremony – are as follows:  On October 16, 2013, the deputies attempted to serve an arrest warrant on a male defendant in the 8500 block of 14^th Place in Hyattsville Maryland who barricaded himself inside of the residence and armed himself with knives and a hatchet.  He was seen through the windows carrying knives in both hands.  After Pepper Spray was deployed into the residence; the defendant kicked out a window and ran into the back yard.

Sgt. Minor, Cpl. Flick and Cpl. Russell were positioned on the inner perimeter, covering the back and sides of the residence. They immediately realized that the defendant was still wielding knives. Cpl. Flick drew his service weapon and gave loud verbal commands instructing him to drop the knives, but the defendant refused, turned and attempted to flee, but became entangled in heavy brush. Cpl. Russell attempted to subdue the defendant by using his Taser, which proved ineffective because of the heavy brush. The defendant raised a knife above his head and yelled “I’m going to kill you”, while aggressively charging towards the deputies. Sgt. Minor, seeing a partial clearing in the brush between himself and the defendant, deployed his Taser, effectively striking the defendant, causing him to fall to the ground and temporarily immobilizing him, which allowed Cpl. Flick to remove the knife from the defendant’s grasp.

Sgt. Minor, Cpl. Flick and Cpl. Russell, all positioned in the small backyard of the residence, were confronted with a dangerous individual wielding knives and threatening to kill them, but they each remained calm in their attempts to subdue the defendant. The actions and quick thinking of the deputies, even while faced with great personal risk and danger, prevented the defendant from harming himself and others. Their actions resulted in a swift and successful apprehension, earning each deputy the Bronze Medal of Valor.

For more information contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division at 301-780-7354

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