California Highway Patrol Officer

California Highway Patrol

2/27/2009

Special Act Award (Gold)

On February 27, 2009, California Highway Patrol Officer Gregory Houser, Jr. arrived on the scene of a suicide attempt. He found a distraught man clinging to the Martin Luther King Jr. Way overpass above the traffic on State Route-99 in the City of Merced. Without hesitation or fear for his own safety, Officer Houser grabbed the man. Officer Houser maintained his grasp on the man’s arms until Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin arrived on scene. Sheriff Pazin held on to the subject’s left arm to assist in keeping the distressed man from falling onto the freeway below. Both Officer Houser and Sheriff Pazin attempted to pull the man back up onto the freeway overpass, but were unsuccessful. After maintaining their grip for some time, Officer Houser and Sheriff Pazin were no longer able to maintain their grip and lost hold of the man. The man fell approximately 10 feet into the bed of a dump truck which had been positioned underneath him in case of a possible fall. Merced Fire Department and ambulance personnel were on-scene and immediately transported the man to Doctors Hospital in Modesto. The actions of Officer Houser, without regard for his own safety, prevented major injuries or death to the distraught man.