SAN DIEGO — The six good Samaritans who stepped in to save a CHP officer’s life on the side of Interstate 8 back in April, were honor on Thursday.
Officer Tony Pacheco was shot on April 27, after the suspect, 25-year-old Yuhao Du tried to grab the officer’s gun, according to police.
Pacheco is now recovering at home and the men who stepped up when he needed them most were honored Thursday at Sonrise Church in Santee, California.
Floriberto Pineda Zayago, Loay Yousif, Francisco Soto Sesma, James Alan Carver, Hunter Nemeth and Travis Almond were honored with California Highway Patrols' Commissioner's Superior Effort Act Award, for their bravery when they stepped in to help Pacheco as he struggled with Du.
Pacheco was investigating a single car crash where Du was the driver of the vehicle.
Floriberto said he, his wife and their daughter were driving along the highway when they noticed something was awry. Floriberto said,
"When I (saw) the car of the officer with the lights and I didn't see the officer or any people…that was weird to me," said Floriberto.
Hunter Nemeth is a nurse at Sharp Grossmont. Hunter said he was on his way to work on his motorcycle when he says he saw, "Two people holding the guy against the guard rail and then I saw the officer that had just fallen down in front of the vehicle,"
And that’s the moment these every day heroes knew they had to jump into action.
“I ran to the officer, dropped the gun on the floor, pulled the officer back and struggled with the suspect for a good 25 seconds,” said Yousif. “I dialed his wife’s number because he couldn't open it. So, I opened his phone, looked for his wife and handed it to him. I looked at my hands and they were all full of blood. My pants, my shoes were all full of blood but at that second, I really didn't care."
Yousif says he has experience with cop codes and knew which code to alert other officers. Yousif says he grabbed Pacheco’s radio and called for help.
“1199 means officer down. That's when I started using 1199. That's when each dispatch and officer heard it. 1199. It's the worst code," said Yousif.
"I went over to the officer. He was yelling that he was shot. I assessed the situation, found out where he was shot, eventually had help. I keep trauma shoes in my backpack, and we cut my backpack up to make tourniquet,” said Nemeth. “We removed his belt to make another tourniquet and kind of assured him that he was going to be alright,"
Floriberto's wife was driving when she says he told her to stop and then jumped out of the car to help as she slowed down.
“It was terrifying. But at the same time, when you see an officer or anyone who needs help, there's no other way you can act," said Floriberto, who says he appreciates the recognition. "It's a big, big honor for me. It’s a big honor to be here and to have this…it's a big thing for me and my family,"
When asked, all the heroes say they did it because that's what officers would do for them.
"They do everything for us every day. They risk their life every day for us and our children, so I didn't think twice to go over there," said Floriberto.
These six complete strangers came together as a team to save Pacheco’s life.
“Everyone played a role. Even if you don't know how to do anything, there was a gentleman that was there reassuring the officer and holding his hand,” said Nemeth. “That's just as important as placing the tourniquet."
Yuhao Du pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He'll be evaluated by court appointed doctors before his next court date scheduled for July.
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