Life Saving Incident
July 10, 2015
California
San Luis Obispo
Arroya Grande
On July 10, 2015, Brian Mollenkopf was on routine patrol when he saw black smoke billowing into the sky near Farroll Avenue as he was driving along South Elm Street in Arroyo Grande. The deputy was the first person on the scene and encountered an elderly, panicked woman coming out of a home. She told Deputy Mollenkopf her husband was inside. Deputy Mollenkopf called dispatch to report the fire and then entered the house to locate the woman's husband, who was on all fours toward the back of the home. He was reaching for a garden hose. Deputy Mollenkopf said the man looked at him with a "glazed look" and then collapsed. The deputy drug him through the burning home, all the time encouraging the man to keep fighting and get out of the house until they were outside and away from the flames and smoke. “God put me in the right place at the right time," Mollenkopf later said, adding he never gave a second thought to entering the home that was fully engulfed in flames when he pulled up and learned there was a man still inside. "I was just doing my duty to my community, and I'd like to think that someone would do the same for me," he said. "I don't see myself as a hero," he said. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
The history of law enforcement in the United States is a long and wonderful history of bravery. This website is dedicated to documenting the heroic deeds of law enforcement officers throughout the United States who have either given or risked their lives to save others. There are many stories of bravery and heroism for many who are considered first responders. However, it is those in law enforcement who are most likely to be the first to arrive upon a location requiring life saving acts engaging dangerous hostage takers, running into burning buildings/vehicles, providing first aid to seriously injured victims, saving near drowning victims and much more are what the women and men of law enforcement do routinely and at many times, great peril to their own safety.
It is our mission to document the history of lives saved by those dedicated women and men in law enforcement. To share with others the dramatic deeds of those individuals who are the first, first responders. It is so important for our citizens to understand that law "enforcement" is not always about enforcing the law but rather being there when our citizens need us.
It is to this end we are dedicated to promoting documentation regarding the history of law enforcement and the lives they have saved.
