Three men disregarded their own safety, jumped in, and stopped a man who was beating a Florida cop after being he was stopped for a traffic violation on Sunday. The three men witnessed a man punching the Florida cop in the head and face and jumped in to save him.
All three men are being called heroes, according to a report by ABCActionNews.
Polk County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Walsh stopped a car after the driver allegedly ran a stop sign, nearly running the motorcycle deputy over. After a short pursuit where the suspect ignored Walsh’s lights and siren, the car eventually pulled over. Despite ordering the suspect, Corey Johnson, to remain in his car, Johnson allegedly exited the vehicle and began to strike the officer about the head and face. Walsh’s radio headset was knocked to the ground before he could call for help.
“Johnson then straddled Walsh across his chest and continued to punch him and attempting to remove his gear from his duty belt,” the Florida television station reported. “Walsh kept one hand firmly on his firearm so that the suspect could not remove it, and was able to flip the suspect off of him, at which time the suspect fled on foot.”
Three men, George Cooper, Antonio Velazquez, and Christopher Carver, witnessed the attack and jumped in to help the deputy.
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They helped Deputy Walsh tackle and arrest the suspect. Johnson is said to have continued resisting, despite having four men on top of him. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters that Walsh’s Taser and radio microphone were broken during the attack. He said it was only through the efforts of the three men that Walsh was able to arrest Johnson and eventually call for assistance.
“There are people in this world who have no respect for the law, or for the peacekeepers and those who are sworn to uphold the law,” Sheriff Judd told the news station. “Yes, some of those people live right here in Polk County. But we also are blessed that there are people in this county who support law enforcement and first responders. When they see something, they say something – or they do something. These three men, who do not know each other or Deputy Walsh, probably had better things to do on a Sunday morning than jump out of their cars to help catch a violent fleeing suspect. We can never thank them enough for their selfless actions. George Cooper, Antonio Velazquez, and Christopher Carver – you are our heroes.”
Cooper, a 54-year-old black man, is said to suffer from herniated discs in his back, has a bad leg and has to wear a leg brace. That did not stop him from jumping in. “When I see someone fighting a police officer I am going to stop at and help,” Cooper told reporters. “I’d do it again.”
Velazquez attempted to tackle Johnson while he was running away. “When he sees me he tries to run,” Velazquez told the reporter. “So, when he tries to run I punch him and kick him and he go down to the ground.”
Carver, a retired police officer, observed the fight having moved across the center median and into oncoming traffic. He stopped his car and jumped in to help subdue the suspect.
Cooper summed it up, saying, “I am not in this for the hero stuff, but that boy was going to kill that officer.”
Deputy Walsh suffered a broken thumb and multiple bruises from the assault. The suspect, Corey Johnson, was arrested and taken to the Polk County Jail.
The action by the men comes in the wake of the murders of police officers in Texas, Louisiana and Illinois over the past few weeks.
Bob Price serves as senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.