The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

WM i moot Hum“ it "Wednesday to» :0 :im- a Police honour those who went above and beyond in fight against crime By MHJNIM Bums nized for their work on a significant drug id 77 i7: lying!“ VIII] fluff " investigation that started with a driving ' ‘ complaint and the seizure of illegal steroids. ell Rutledge and Owen Slater were making Officers from Division 3 also received a lunch one day lttsl summer when they spot citation for work on a multiâ€"jurisdictional led a group oi men acting suspiciously breakrin investigation that led to the arrest around a neighlxmnng apartment htiilding on , of a titan accused of walking into unlocked Hazel Street. seniors‘ homes and walking out with their [hey net er thought their actions follow~ . valuables. ing that sighting of three “sketchy” suspects Waterloo patrol officer. Const. Steven from their third floor apartment window ‘ a" ‘3‘ Griffin was, was honoured for his quick would earn them accolades [hey just did "' gs . 141‘: 7" thinking that led to the arrest of an armed what they thought anyone should do 7 they .. 3 If? g; ‘ robbery suspect last winter. didn't turn a blind eye. ' “1% Griffin was out on patrol near King and The University of Waterloo students were I;- ” ”1.3"" 5 7’ Wellington streets â€" an area that had seen a among 12 citizens honoured last week at the , 3 is, string of armed robberies â€" early one Waterloo Regional Police’s awards night. ”r i” â€" ‘59- Z" . morning when he spotted something suspi- “lt's very important to acknowledge, rec- V . if '5 cious. ognize and celebrate circumstances where . . if " t? "1 observed a male dressed all in black members of our community have acted ; A ‘ ' i ”if: with a mask on mnning from the area," Grif- above and beyond to make things safer for ; y? fin said. everyone in Waterloo Region," said lnsp. t , ,5 i There had been no reports of a robbery Steve Beckett. , . i, .i ' ‘ , in the area, but he knew something was up. “We hear a lot of things around frosh k i ,.5.:Â¥ - 543‘: He followed the masked man down an time or St. Patrick‘s Day about students, but ’ 9 alley and called in his location to dispatch there are a lot of really engaged students that 41.2 A ' ~ .1 He got out of his car and found himself star- care about their community: a 7 .533“ ing down the suspect who was clutching a “The majority of students contribute a lot 5-2;; 1‘ M, "5% 325$ bag full of cash and a machete. to Waterloo Region and this is an example of University of Waterloo students Jeff Rutledge, left. and Owen Slater, right. thwarted a break- “He looked up and saw me and immedi- a couple of students that certainly care a lot in near their Hazel Street apartment last summer. The two were honoured by the Waterloo ately looked at the bag and left the bag and about what is going on around them." Regional Polire last week for their actions. Wm more machete and ran." he said. The awards are handed out annually dur» By that point. the police were on their Both Slater and Rutledge have headed Griffin chased the suspect down and held ing police W99k and recognize citizens and way. The two suspect climbed back out home for the summer months. Slater will him until help arrived. officers Who 80 above and beyond the Call of through the window. where Rutledge and return in a few weeks to continue working I! wasn't until after he’d made the am?“ duty to make the community a safer place. Slater managed to corner one of them. toward; his degree in environmental science that dispatch received a call from a restau- Roommates Rutledge and Slater were at “If we had not gone over there, they and business, while Rutledge. who just grad- rant in the area reporting that they had been home at their “8281 51mm apanment When would have been gone by the time the police uated from UW's mechanical engineering robbed. they made the decision to intervene in the got there.” Rutledge said. "We just wanted to program, is planning to ride his bike across “It's just your job.” Griffin said after crime they saw unfolding, slow them down.” the country for charity this summer. receiving the award. ‘We saw one guy slide open the window One of the men was able to escape, but Both men said the recognition by police 'I think any police officer would have and {W0 Of them jump in," 513!“ said. "It the students trapped the other man and was appreciated, but certainly not neces- done the same thing. ”115' happen ‘0 have was sort of a knee»jerk reaction. Usually grabbed away something he had taken from sary_ been there and had a bit ofluck people don't enter their houses jumping in a the apartment. throwing it back in through “It was a surprise for sure." Rutledge said In his citation. the service described his Window" the window. “It's kind of nice to be recognized for what actions as courageous and 58mm The pair went down to the building to “We sort of sat on him,” Slater said. wedid . , . but. I would expect the same from Griffin has since moved on to another check out what was happening. Ruttledge Police arrived a short time later and a neighbour in the same situation,” investigative post, but said the honor I0! his called the butldmg‘s management, while arrested the man. In addition to the citizens honoured. work on WHO] was appreciated. 93!)“:le Slater P0de his head into the basement Neither Rutledge nor Slater gave much police recognized 30 of their own who since the community doesn't always 89! ‘0 WinOW (0 590 Whl‘rl‘ lht‘ IW0 men had diSA thought to their intervention, That was, demonstrative initiative. alertness and meri- seethegood side ofpolice work appeared. until they staned telling family and friends torious service with a citation of commen- "The only time people usually see police “In the scariest voice I could muster, I their tale. dation. officersisifthey're breaking the law or doing said. 'Hey. What are you doing in there?" “My mom was not impressed," Slater The honourees from the Waterloo divi- something they shouldn't.” be said. 'lt's nice Slater said, "One walked around the corner said. with a chuckle. “But_ the award made Sign included the Community-Oriented to be recognized for work that every police from a differ“! ”mm" up for it. ' Response (CORE) team. who were recog- officer (1098- bl“ very few 891 moaned for.” PAIN I 8: S IAIN SALE ON NOW. i J ' ' ‘ l ‘ ‘i ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ . m I‘ . . .. ’. . "_"_' t ) . . ‘ HI;I:R.\ . lil‘lllilllllll \looie www.heersdocoratlng.com