Miami-Dade County police officers Joseph Cruz and Andres Galvez were awarded the departmental Bronze Medal of Valor and Lifesaving Award and selected to share Distinguished Officer of the Month honors for the month of August.
On April 15, Cruz and Galvez were dispatched to a dispute where the subject was threatening to assault the victim. Upon arriving, Cruz and Galvez made contact with a female who advised her ex-boyfriend was inside the backseat of her vehicle with their five-year-old child and was refusing to exit the vehicle.
Cruz and Galvez approached the left rear passenger door and opened it to make contact with the subject, who was sitting in the right rear passenger position within the vehicle, holding his son.
Cruz proceeded to give him verbal commands to exit the vehicle. At that time, the subject became irate and began yelling to Cruz, “I’m not getting out!” Cruz proceeded to go around the vehicle and opened the door closest to the subject. Cruz again asked him to exit the vehicle, to no avail.
The subject then reached toward his front pocket and withdrew a firearm, at which time Cruz immediately drew his firearm from his holster and yelled out the word “gun” in order to inform Galvez the subject was armed. Galvez also drew his firearm and joined Cruz at the right rear passenger door. Cruz gave the subject loud verbal commands to move his hand away from the gun.
Refusing, the subject proceeded to use his son as a human shield, positioning the child between himself and the officers. He then began yelling, “Don’t kill me.” Hearing the commotion, the female rushed in and positioned herself between the officers and the subject and began yelling, “Don’t kill them.”
At this time, Cruz reholstered his firearm and ran to the left side of the vehicle, while Galvez stayed holding point on the subject with his firearm. Cruz activated his Electronic Control Device (ECD) and deployed it at the subject’s back. This afforded Galvez the opportunity to disarm the subject and retrieve the child, handing him over to his mother. The subject was later charged with Child Abuse/Endangerment, Possession of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, and Resisting Arrest Without Violence.
Using communication, teamwork, and sound tactics, Cruz and Galvez were able to defuse and de-escalate a situation that could have potentially ended with tragic results.