Licensing Registration Examiner

Department of Motor Vehicles

3/2/2011

Special Service Award (Silver)

On Wednesday, March 2, 2011, at approximately 12:15 p.m., 911 operators received over 20 different calls about a man causing a disturbance in the Hawthorne DMV. Manager I Conrad Rivarde, asked him to leave. Instead, the man jumped on the ledge of a workstation saying “they are going to kill me!” Mr. Rivarde approached the man and demanded he get down. Although the man initially complied, within seconds he jumped back on the ledge and fell backwards into the work area, got up and started running. Mr. Rivarde caught up with him and grabbed him. The man appeared disorientated and paranoid. He escaped and starting running towards the rear of the work area, looking behind him as if someone was chasing him. The man grabbed a female manager and held her in front of him like a shield and then shoved her away. In an effort to apprehend the man, Mr. Rivarde tackled him and they struggled on the floor. The man struck Mr. Rivarde in the face and escaped. At this moment Manager I Kathy Myles intervened by grabbing the man and telling him to calm down while advising staff to clear the area. Licensing Registration Examiner Geoffrey Holmes was returning back to the office after administering a driving exam and was informed about the situation. Mr. Holmes ran into the building, saw Ms. Myles struggling with the man, and approached to assist with the situation. Realizing they were in close proximity to a stockroom, Ms. Myles, Mr. Rivarde, Mr. Holmes and a security guard put the man inside the stockroom and together they restrained him until police arrived. The man was arrested and found to be under the influence of narcotics.