In the early morning of December 25, Christmas Day, Officer Brandon Will with the Grants Police Department saved a life and brought comfort to a person in mental distress. The several minute long situation was captured by Officer Will’s body camera, showing every single harrowing moment from when he first arrived on scene to the heroism and calm demeanor he maintained through the ordeal.
Around 2 am on December 25 a call came in to the Cibola County Regional Dispatch about allegedly stolen property. Officers were dispatched to Valencia Village where they met with a woman who told them that a man had allegedly taken some property from her daughter in the Pueblo of Laguna. She informed the officers that the man was sleeping in his car and she just wanted her property.
Officers approached the car and found a man inside who appeared to be sleeping. He was covered with a blanket. Officer Will knocked on the window trying to wake the man, identifying himself as a Grants Police Officer. Another unidentified officer noticed that there was something wrapped around the man’s neck. Upon further inspection Officer Will identified the item as a belt and alerted everyone around that he was going to get inside the vehicle.
Using his baton, in two swings he broke open the driver’s side window and was able to open the door. He pulled back the blanket to find a dark colored belt wrapped tightly against the man’s neck. Officer Will carefully but to remove the belt by cutting it off. Breathing quickly returned to the man but it would be several minutes before he began to wake. Officer Will calmed the man down and was telling him, “You’re going to be okay.”
The quick work by responding officers saved the man’s life. He was taken by ambulance to Cibola General Hospital, the car and all property inside were taken to be processed.
“It takes five to seven seconds to knock someone out if there is no oxygen going to the brain,” GPD Interim Chief Jeff Marez said.
“There was good communication from Brandon in this situation,” he added.
No charges were filed in this incident by Grants Police Department, Chief Marez urged anyone in need of mental support health to reach out to New Mexico Crisis and Health Access Line at 1-855- 662-7474.