Photo: San Bernardino
Sheriff's Department
Four San Bernardino County, Calif., sheriff’s deputies have been awarded the Congressional Badge of Bravery, reports the San Bernardino Sun.
Three of the deputies — detectives Larry Lopez and Justin Musella and Deputy Daniel Rosa — were recognized by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office for their actions to save their fellow deputies during the standoff with disgruntled former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner in the San Bernardino Mountains in February 2013.
They're set to receive their honors next week.
Deputy Arturo Ramirez was no less heroic four months later, when on June 15, 2013, he was dispatched to a fire at an apartment in Victorville. Awaiting the arrival of firefighters, Ramirez was told by residents that people were trapped inside an upstairs apartment. He raced up the stairs and into the smoke-filled apartment, pulling a woman, an 11-year-old girl, a 5-month-old infant and a toddler to safety.
When Ramirez got the four outside, they told him another little girl was still trapped inside the apartment. Ramirez glanced up, saw a tiny pair of hands pounding on a window, and raced back inside the apartment, grabbing the girl, holding her in a bear hug, and guiding her to safety.
The deputies are being honored along with two dozen other law enforcement officers, ranging from border control to FBI agents.
