PORT ANGELES — Two Port Angeles police officers have been honored for springing into action after an SUV smashed through a guardrail and landed upside-down in the Valley Creek estuary.
Cpl. Sky Sexton and Officer Jared Tait received Law Enforcement Life Saving Medals at the Port Angeles City Council meeting Tuesday for rescuing the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee who was trapped under shallow water Sept. 8.
“I’m very proud of these two,” Police Chief Brian Smith said during the ceremony.
Sexton and Tait were investigating an erratic vehicle that allegedly failed to stop for law enforcement when they noticed a heavily damaged guardrail in the 300 block of West Front Street at about 1:27 a.m. Sept. 8.
The officers found the Jeep upside-down in shallow saltwater below the guardrail.
“The driver of the wrecked vehicle was trapped, partially outside the vehicle in the water, and he appeared to be drowning,” Deputy Police Chief Jason Viada told the council.
Sexton crawled through a broken window and cut the trapped driver’s seat belt while Tait braced the person’s head and neck, Viada said.
“Cpl. Sexton and Officer Tait carried the victim to shore while supporting and stabilizing the patient’s neck and spine,” Viada said.
“Officer Tait remained with that patient while Cpl. Sexton returned to the wrecked vehicle and stayed with those patients until paramedics arrived and took over patient care.”
The driver, Grant Eastman, 21, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center, where he recovered from his injuries.
Two passengers who were found inside the overturned Jeep — and one passenger who was found on a nearby embankment — were treated at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and discharged, police said after the wreck.
Clallam County Sheriff Deputy Bill Cortani said he tried to stop an SUV that was driving erratically on U.S. Highway 101 east of Port Angeles before the crash.
Cortani estimated that the Jeep was traveling about 70 mph before he began to pursue the westbound vehicle, police said after the incident.
Cortani maintained a distance of several blocks for safety, police said.
The Law Enforcement Life Saving Medal is awarded to officers who display “calm, professional determination in a life-threatening or extremely hazardous circumstance,” Viada told the council.
Sexton is a nine-year veteran of the Port Angeles Police Department and a former firefighter, Smith said.
He has served as the department’s school resource officer, medical officer and emergency medical technician.
Sexton helped secure defibrillators for officers and initiated the department’s naloxone program, the only such program among Clallam County law enforcement agencies. Naloxone is a heroin and opioid overdose antidote.
Tait joined the Port Angeles Police Department nearly three years ago after serving as a warrant officer and helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army.
Tait is an accident specialist who serves as the department’s main DUI enforcement officer, Smith said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
