To protect and serve

Chamber of Commerce honors those who risk their lives to save others.For police, it’s one of the worst calls they can get.

A deranged person is running around a residential neighborhood with a gun, ready to kill or be killed.

“There are few incidents that are more dangerous than when a person doesn’t care if they live or die,” said Huntington Beach Police Capt. Bill Stuart.

Officers Zachary Price and Gary Faust found themselves in this deadly predicament last January when they received a call about a suicidal woman hiding in a carport on Pierce Street. Witnesses said the woman had placed a gun in her mouth and appeared very distraught.

Under the cover of darkness, guns drawn, the officers began their search for the woman. Turning a corner, they came upon a small laundry room and then heard a familiar sound: gun shots. The woman had begun firing at them.

The officers returned fire and injured the woman; she eventually surrendered. The incident will likely remain with the officers forever, Stuart said.

“There’s an old saying that goes ‘Police work is hours of boredom, punctuated by brief moments of sheer terror,’” he added.

On Oct. 26, Stuart helped honor officers Price and Faust as well as fire and lifeguard officials during the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Public Safety Awards luncheon at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort.

“The most important thing to humanity is life itself,” keynote speaker Chris Brewster, a retired lifeguard, told the hundreds of people in attendance. “And we are often the shield between injury and safety, loss and prevention, life and death.”

Other honorees at the luncheon included:

* Lifeguard Michael Bartlett, who received an award for valor for saving three drowning swimmers who had been swept up in riptide. Working by himself, Bartlett was able to keep the three victims afloat, swimming from one to the next with the other in tow until backup arrived.

* Firefighter Randy Babbitt, who received an award for valor after pulling three people from a burning RV. Babbitt was leaving town on vacation when he noticed the vehicle in distress. After alerting the owner, he went into the RV and pulled two young girls from the smoldering fire, then went back and retrieved the pair’s grandfather -- all while dressed in civilian clothes.

* Officer Derek Young, who received an award for valor for his response to a violent domestic dispute call. Investigating a potential restraining order violation, Young found himself dealing with a very distraught ex-husband who had barricaded himself in his apartment with a hammer.

When police approached the man, he attempted to throw the hammer at one of the officers. Officer Young shot the man as he was throwing the hammer, which caused it to fall just short of a fellow officer. The man survived the incident and was arrested.

* Firefighter Thorpe Logemann, who received an award for valor after rescuing three drowning men in high surf under the Huntington Beach Pier. After spotting the men in the dangerous conditions, Logemann swam out to each man separately, pulled him off the pilings and brought him back to shore.

* Surfers Aaron Rivera, Mike Monroe and Craig Larsen, who received the Good Samaritan award for rescuing an unconscious man from very high surf and administering CPR.

* Analyst Jim Moore, who received the award for merit for the implementation of the department’s new computer aided dispatch/records management system project.

* Recently retired Det. Thomas Gilligan, who received the award for merit for 18 years of investigating robberies.

* Sgt. Chris Filicicchia, who received an award of merit for helping to consolidate the city’s property crimes unit with its crime lab. He oversees a staff of 17 people.20051103ipb5g0kn(LA)Mayor Jill Hardy, front left, and Chamber of Commerce president Pat Rodgers, front right, flank this year’s recipients of the Public Safety Awards, handed out at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort on Oct. 26. Front row, left to right: Mike Monroe, Craig Larsen, Mike Monroe, Lifeguard Michael Bartlett. Second row: Officer Derek Young, Firefighter Randy Babbitt, Firefighter Thorpe Logemann and retired Det. Thomas Gilligan. Back row: Sgt. Gary Faust, Jim Moore, Officer Zachary Pricer and Sgt. Chris Filicicchia.