On Friday, October 20, 2017, officers from the Sacramento Police Department were recognized for their bravery by the Sacramento Chapter of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).  Six medals were presented at the SAR’s Annual Community Awards Banquet to Sergeant Joe Ellis, Officer Jason Wacker, Officer Colby Anderson, Officer Emily Kane, Officer Michael Novak and Officer Nicholas Tayler for their heroism.

The following is a description of their heroic actions which were recognized:

On June 3, 2017, shortly before midnight, two officers heard numerous gunshots just south of their location at the 24^th Street Corp Yard.  As they exited the Corp Yard to 24^th Street, they noticed a black sedan driving recklessly northbound on 24^th Street.  The two officers followed the black car awaiting additional officers to conduct a stop.  The vehicle was eventually stopped, and the four occupants were detained.  These four occupants would later be arrested for the homicide of the individual involved in the following vehicle accident. 

Additional officers converged into the area and began to check for a possible shooting.  Sergeant Joe Ellis, Officer Emily Kane and Officer Colby Anderson located a vehicle overturned and on fire on the west shoulder of 24^th Street at 38th Avenue.  Multiple 911 calls were received in relationship to the overturned vehicle and associated fire.

Sergeant Ellis and Officer Anderson approached the burning vehicle and saw at least one unconscious occupant in the driver’s seat of the burning vehicle.  The vehicle was on its side with the driver’s door pinned against the ground.  Officer Anderson used his baton to try and break out the front windshield of the vehicle.  After multiple strikes to the windshield, Officer Anderson transitioned to the sunroof of the vehicle to try to free the driver. 

During this time, Sergeant Ellis was directing additional officers to bring extra fire extinguishers to help fight the growing fire.  Officer Anderson was trying to free the occupant when within 2 to 3 feet the engine compartment became fully engulfed in flames.  Officer Anderson was finally able to clear the sunroof opening after multiple baton strikes.  He communicated to the other officers that there was a baby seat inside the vehicle. 

Officers Jason Wacker, Nicholas Tayler and Michael Novak arrived with fire extinguishers and assisted Officer Kane in fighting the flames.  The heat inside the passenger compartment was so intense that melting pieces of the vehicle plastic trim was dripping on the officers as they worked to free the driver.  Officer Anderson was ultimately able to free the driver from the burning vehicle with the assistance of Officers Wacker and Tayler.  These three officers dragged the victim from the vehicle to a position of safety.  Officers Kane and Wacker began performing emergency medical aid and CPR to the victim. 

The passenger compartment of the vehicle became fully engulfed in fire within one minute of officers pulling the driver to safety.  The officers exhausted 5 fire extinguishers while trying to combat the flames.  At one point, Sgt. Ellis used a jacket from inside the vehicle to beat the flames down and protect Officer Anderson from the flames while he worked on freeing the driver.  Sacramento Fire Department arrived, took over CPR and extinguished the fire in the vehicle. 

It was ultimately determined that the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle had been shot while driving southbound on 24^th Street.  The victim became incapacitated from being shot which caused the vehicle to leave the road and strike a tree.  Unfortunately, the victim succumbed to his injuries that were caused by the shooting. 

These officers put themselves in grave danger with full knowledge of the risk to their own personal safety to save the life of this victim.