Citizen crime-fighters honored by Vidor police

Ascribed “Good Samaritans” that assisted in detaining a suspect who was assaulting a Vidor Police Department (VPD) officer were honored by the local police force during a ceremony on June 20 at the station.

VPD Chief Rod Carroll reported that Damien Verde and Regan Lavallee were guests of honor at the Wednesday Crime Fighter Awards ceremony because of their actions during a May incident where a member of VPD was in extreme danger save for the efforts of private citizens passers-by.

Sunday, May 14, at 11:50 p.m., the VPD Dispatch Center received a call of a suspicious person in the 1000 block of Orange Street. The first arriving officer reportedly found a suspect, later identified as 22-year-old Jonathan Burton, of Orange County, hiding behind a vehicle.

“Upon making contact with the suspect, he was uncooperative and appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance,” Carroll reported. “During the encounter, the suspect threatened to assault the officer, at which time the suspect began to resist and become combative.”

An “Officer Needs Assistance Call” went out over the police airwaves as the officer struggled with the suspect. The citizen who initially called police to report the suspicious person, Damien Verde, and Explorer Regan Lavallee of the Vidor Police Department Explorer Post, were the first to arrive and offer aid to the struggling officer.

“With their assistance,” Carroll reported, “the officer was able to get the suspect handcuffed without any serious injury to the officer, citizens or suspect.”

Burton continued to be combative even when handcuffed, Carroll further noted, and was eventually arrested and charged with assault on a peace officer; resisting arrest, search, or transport; and public intoxication.