Steven David Pippin rescued Bruce E. Barkdoll from assault, Royal Palm Beach, Florida, May 27, 2013. Responding to the scene of an automobile accident, Barkdoll, 55, a police officer, learned that the driver had fled on foot. Another motorist, Pippin, 20, trade school student, had followed the driver several hundred feet onto the grounds of a nursery and directed Barkdoll to him. The driver, a large, muscular man, had by then removed his outer attire and was thrashing about in pooled water on the ground. Recognizing that the driver was exhibiting signs of excited delirium, Barkdoll approached him in a calm manner, but the man rose, lunged at Barkdoll, and took him to the ground. The assailant struck Barkdoll and removed and discarded his radio and telephone, depriving him of his means of communication, and he pulled and tugged at Barkdoll’s holster, which held a fully loaded service weapon. Witnessing the attack, Pippin approached and jumped on the assailant. He held down one of the assailant’s arms as Barkdoll worked to secure him, and he retrieved Barkdoll’s radio, enabling Barkdoll to call for back up. The assailant continued to struggle against the men and maintained his resistance as other responding officers secured him with handcuffs and a leg restraint. Barkdoll suffered scrapes and bruises, from which he recovered.
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