NEW PORT RICHEY - The Pasco County Sheriff's Office presented two men with Citizen Lifesaving Awards and a deputy with a Meritorious Service Award for Accomplishment during its quarterly awards ceremony Wednesday.
On Nov. 10, David Youngclaus and Scott Price were nearly involved in a crash when they saw a woman's Jeep Cherokee get struck by another vehicle and veer into a retention pond.
As the Jeep sank, both men jumped out of their truck, ran to the pond and swam out to the Jeep. Together they pulled her out of the nearly submerged Jeep and back to shore.
"They accomplished the feat in their work clothes, including their heavy work boots, and eventually returned to work in their wet clothes," the Sheriff's Office reported.
On Dec. 7, Deputy William Rodgers was returning from the Juvenile Detention Center on State Road 52 when he learned of the escape of three juvenile males from another local juvenile detention center, the Sheriff's Office reported.
"En route back to the Land O'Lakes Detention Center, Deputy Rodgers noticed two individuals exiting the woods . . . . He requested the two juveniles to place their hands on the hood of his vehicle . . . then handcuffed the juveniles until road patrol deputies arrived to take them into custody," the Sheriff's Office reported. The third juvenile was caught by a different deputy shortly afterward, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Rodgers was honored "for his quick thinking and appropriate actions."
