2 Lacey residents honored for heroic acts
A River Ridge High School student and a longtime Lacey resident were recognized before Lacey City Council Thursday night for recent acts of bravery.
Lacey Police Chief Ken Semko introduced student Jaylen Pitre and resident Nathaniel Vehara to the council and audience, then explained how they had responded to two incidents in November.
On Nov. 10, a Sunday, Pitre was on the campus of River Ridge High School when he saw a 10-year-old boy being assaulted by high school-age students. He intervened, then prevented them from chasing after the boy.
“He was able to do that long enough so that the boy could get away,” Chief Semko said.
The day before, Vehara was riding an Intercity Transit bus when a theft suspect fled the Walmart on Galaxy Drive Northeast and jumped on the bus. Lacey police officer Mark Eley stopped and boarded the bus, then asked the suspect to exit the bus so they could talk about what happened.
As soon as they were off the bus, the suspect began to assault the officer. Vehara noticed the officer needed help, so he got off the bus, too, and helped Eley subdue the suspect. After that, he flagged down arriving officers and pointed them in the direction of the incident.
Vehara later explained his motivation. “Nobody moved (to help the officer) on that bus and that really bothered me,” he said.
Both Eley and River Ridge school resource officer Josh Bartz attended the council meeting.
This isn’t the first time a River Ridge High School student has been recognized for a heroic act.
In 2016, student Dermonte Gobert and his mother, Mary Tilliman, helped a woman who was fleeing from an abusive ex-boyfriend.
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 7:00 AM.
