Saint Paul Police Department presenting Chief's and Life Saving Awards

October 8, 2012

 

 

Saint Paul Police Department presenting Chief's and Life Saving Awards

 

Saint Paul Police Chief Tom Smith will honor five people for their courage and quick action in helping Saint Paul community members at an awards ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2012 at 2 p.m. in the Community Room at Saint Paul Police Department headquarters, located at 367 Grove Street, Saint Paul, MN, 55101.

The honorees include:

 

Chief's Award:

 

Ms. Blia Xiong and Ms. Mang Truong 

 

On Sept. 13, 2011, Blia Xiong and her sister, Mang Truong, both saw a man running with a purse, and a woman running after him screaming for him to stop and that the man had stolen her purse. The man got into thebackseat of a vehicle.  Truong pulled the car up alongside of the vehicle and Xiong yelled at the man to return the purse to the woman. He got out, handed the purse to the victim, and then fled on foot. Truong immediately called the Emergency Communications Center to have officers respond. Both provided detailed descriptions of the vehicle and the suspect.  Later, they were both contacted to come identify a suspect that matched the description they gave at the scene. 

 

The suspect they were there to identify, it turned out, was the driver of the vehicle, not the initial suspect. The vehicle was found abandoned at a Super America and was the vehicle identified in a Criminal Sexual Conduct call earlier that day.  The driver was arrested for his involvement with that crime.  Their intervention and quick decision to assist a woman in distress, without any hesitation for their own safety, not only helped to get a woman’s purse back to her, but they also, unknowingly, assisted with an arrest in a violent crime.

 

Saint Paul Police Officer Mark Grundhauser

On April 25, 2012, Officer Mark Grundhauser was patrolling as a Parking Enforcement Officer and saw a man sitting on the sidewalk near the High Bridge. The man appeared to be very upset. Grundhauser turned his squad around to see if he could assist. A woman that was with man said that he suffered from PTSD and was a veteran. Grundhauser radioed for squads to assist and began speaking to the man to try and calm him. The man was pounding his fists on a vehicle and shouting for it to hit him. Grundhauser tried to talk with him pointing out that he is also a veteran. The man did not believe him, but Grundhauser pointed to his Army pin on his uniform.  The man seemed to calm a bit, but then threatened to jump from the bridge. Grundhauser remained calm and was determined to assist this man. He was trying to get him to talk about his time in Afghanistan when squads arrived and was able to assist with taking the distressed man into custody, who was then transported to Regions for evaluation. Grundhauser’s quick-thinking decision to talk with this person about their military services greatly benefitted the outcome of this tense situation.

 

Grundhauser graduated from the Saint Paul Police Department Recruit Academy on Oct. 4, 2012.

 

Life Saving Award

 

Saint Paul Police Sergeant Mike Whisler and Saint Paul Police Officer Rod Larson

 

On Jan. 3, 2012, an arson fire on Virginia Street was called into dispatch.  Officer Rod Larson and then-Officer Michael Whisler responded and as they arrived at the scene, a man informed them that the house was on fire with residents still inside. The officers kicked down the door and entered a house rapidly filling with smoke. They could see flames in one corner of the home. One resident was on the main floor and they yelled for him to get out. He informed the officers that there were four more people upstairs. As both officers crawled on their knees, pounding their flashlights on the floor, yelling for the residents to get out, the four people, including a 2-year-old and an infant in a carrier, came down the stairwell. The officers quickly assisted them out of the home. Without any concern for their own safety, and displaying tremendous courage and determination, they entered the burning home and helped to save the lives of the residents.

 

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NOTE TO PRODUCERS AND EDITORS: At this time, Ms. Blia Xiong and Ms. Mang Truong are declining interview requests.