SANDUSKY, Ohio - Three Ohio police officers who stopped a mother from throwing her baby out of second-story window are being honored for their heroics.
Lakewood police officers Joshua Greear, Nick Rebraca and Heather Herpka received the prestigious “Life Saving” award Wednesday night from the Ohio Tactical Officers Association at an event in Sandusky, according to WJW.
Officer Greear still can’t believe what happened that morning. The harrowing call was all captured on police body cameras.
“I watched the video 100 times,” said Greear. “I was like did I really see that?”
The officers were responding to a home shortly after starting their shift around 7 am this past November after neighbors reported hearing loud noises.
Officer Greear says a second-floor window was broken out and it looked like items had been thrown out of the window, landing on a neighbor's car.
“The house was torn apart,” said Greear. “The back door was wide open and there’s blood on the door frame and on the floor and you can hear noise from inside but there’s no lights.”
The officers entered the home and called for the woman inside, who finally appeared, with blood on her clothing, speaking incoherently while holding her 19-month-old son.
When the officers tried to get the boy, to make sure he was okay, the woman ran into the bathroom and then toward the broken out window .
“That’s when she wound up trying to throw him,” said Greear who immediately jumped to the rescue. “I bear hugged him, to her and her to me. I had my arms wrapped around both of them and we were able to get her back out.”
However the ordeal wasn’t over.
The woman then began biting the child’s face under his ear. Officers managed to safely free the boy, and she started kicking and biting them.
Eventually she was subdued and both mother and son taken to a local hospital for treatment. Officers say the child suffered only minor injures.
His mother received psychiatric treatment and wasn’t charged criminally.
Officer Greear credited their intense training handling mentally ill persons and says they just did what any other officers would have done in that situation.
