Three Indio CHP Officers Honored With Medal Of Valor

SACRAMENTO – Three California Highway Patrol officers stationed in Indio were awarded the governor’s Medal of Valor, this week, for helping to save a suicidal man in Palm Desert.

Sergeant Jackie Rice, Officer Joseph Zagorski, and Officer William Strom responded to the call in March of this year, when a man was threatening to jump from the Cook Street overpass.

Officers Zagorski and Strom were the first to arrive on the scene that day. They talked to the man while Sergeant Rice got into position behind him. When the time was right, Sgt. Rice jumped on the man, giving him a “bear hug.” He violently struggled, nearly knocking the two of them over the overpass and onto Interstate 10. After a brief struggle, the man was safe, and so were the officers.

All three were awarded for their heroism, and their ability to put someone else’s life before their own.