Police Present Citizen’s Award of Valor to Good Guy With a Gun Who Saved Officer Under Attack

An Ohio man with a concealed carry permit was presented Monday with a Citizens Award of Valor for coming to the aid of police officer under attack last year.

Cpl. Michael Wheeler of Ohio’s Mount Vernon Police Department told Inside Edition that he owes his life to Dylan DeBoard, the man who saved him.

“Every time I see him, I let him know how much I appreciate what he did,” he said.

According to Wheeler, he was attacked last year by a homeless man who later admitted to being high on crystal meth. While he was attempting to subdue his attacker, the man knocked Wheeler to his back and straddled him. He ripped away his microphone and reached for his gun.

Wheeler said that in his 14-year career he’s “never been in that situation before.”

“I’ve always been able to take control of a situation,” he said.

According to Wheeler, all of a sudden, the man stopped struggling with him. He looked up to see a man with a gun.

“I didn’t know if he was pointing at me or [the attacker],” Wheeler said.

Then the man with the gun — DeBoard — announced that he was a concealed carry holder. Wheeler was then able to use his attacker’s hesitation to flip him over and handcuff him.

The officer said he is thankful for the opportunity to honor DeBoard for his actions. “I wish a lot more of society would do what he did," he added. "There were people standing around, but they were just watching. I kept wondering why people didn’t do anything.”

—

Follow the author of this story on Twitter and Facebook:

Follow @kgscanlon