Life Saving Award
In the early morning hours of May 13, 2023, Officer Justin Barberi was conducting business checks in his patrol area, looking for signs of suspicious activity, when he came across a vehicle illegally parked and out of place in the rear of the BJ’s Wholesale parking lot. As he approached the vehicle, he observed what appeared to be a male sleeping behind the wheel with the vehicle running. Upon further investigation, Officer Barberi could see a green garden hose running from vehicle’s exhaust into the rear driver’s side window and immediately recognized this as a possible suicide attempt. Officer Barberi immediately opened the driver’s door, removed the victim, who was clearly in respiratory distress, and immediately began to render lifesaving first aid while at the same time requesting BLS/ALS and additional police response. The victim regained consciousness and was transported to the hospital for medical and psychological evaluation. Officer Barberi should be commended for his diligence, immediate action and using his training and experience to save a person’s life.