5 WCPD Officers Get Lifesaving Medals For 3 Times Tragedy Was Averted

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — Lifesaving Medals were awarded to Westchester County Police Department officers for stepping in to help save the lives of people in crisis who they encountered on the job.

In all, five officers were honored for their lifesaving heroics in three separate emergencies.

Lifesaving Medals were awarded to Sgt. Joaquin Brito and Police Officers Cristal Alcantara, Conrado Builes, Thomas Conway, Christopher Hearle, Erika Holze and Josesph Kraus for their actions at a serious accident on the Saw Mill River Parkway on Sept. 6. The officers performed a challenging extrication of three critically injured persons from a badly damaged vehicle and provided lifesaving emergency medical care prior to their transport to the hospital.

The Lifesaving Medal was awarded to Police Officer Nicholas Mirko who performed CPR and provided other care on April 6, 2023, to revive a man in Mount Kisco who had suffered a heart attack.

See: Westchester PD Officers Credited With Saving Mount Kisco Man's Life

Lifesaving Medals were also awarded to Police Officers Antonio Flores and Raimond Restbergs for utilizing crisis intervention training, compassion and skill in calming a suicidal man on Feb. 3, 2023. The officers had located the man standing on the outside ledge of a railroad bridge in Mount Kisco. He was crying and saying he deserved to die. The officers calmed the man, won his trust and eventually helped him climb back over the railing to safety.

See: Police Help Talk Man 'In Crisis' Off Ledge Over Metro-North Tracks