Officers Honored for Heroic Actions

Last evening, at the Board of Trustees meeting, three Delhi officers were honored for their heroic actions on September 8, 2017.

Cpl. Brad Doerger and Officer Abby Ballman received the Valor Ribbon. Officer Michael Gerde received the Lifesaving Ribbon.

Officers received a call to respond to a suicidal individual. Cpl. Brad Doerger, Officer Abby Ballman and Officer Michael Gerde responded and found a man approximately 40 feet up in a tree. Officers observed him standing on a branch, no shirt, and a sweatshirt tied around a branch. He would not respond to officers’ commands. They observed him putting his head through the sweatshirt, stepping off the branch and beginning to hang.

Officers acted quickly, placing themselves in peril. Cpl. Doerger pushed Officer Ballman up the tree (to reach the first branch). She began to climb the 40 feet. Officer Gerde pushed Cpl. Doerger up to the branch. Cpl. Doerger began to climb the 40 feet. Officer Gerde assisted with getting both officers up in the tree and then coordinated the efforts on the ground (summoning EMS and getting a ladder).

Officer Ballman eventually reached the individual and began untying the noose he had created. The individual was not assisting in getting the noose off his neck. As Officer Ballman removed the noose, he began to fall. Cpl. Doerger was up far enough to catch his legs and hold him up. Both Officer Ballman and Cpl. Doerger were able to hold the individual up for about 15–20 minutes, until a ladder could be put into place. With the assistance of the Delhi Fire Department the individual was lowered to the ground. The individual was transported to a local hospital and released unharmed.

Alert sent on 09/28/2017 at 2:24PM EDT