Las Vegas NowPolice Honor Citizens, Officers Who Went Above the Call of Duty

Police Honor Citizens, Officers Who Went Above the Call of Duty

Police say a Good Samaritan's astute observations and quick actions are why two toddlers found bound and gagged in their car seats are still alive today. That citizen was recognized Thursday, along with several Las Vegas police officers and Metro employees during an awards ceremony.

It was five months ago that Las Vegan Amanda Freeman heard the cries of a child coming from behind a closed garage door she just happened to be walking by. Police say her next move, a call to 911, saved the lives of two little boys in one of the most terrifying cases of child abuse they've ever encountered.

As Freeman made her way to the stage to accept the award, Sheriff Doug Gillespie talked about the day last June when the private citizen was walking through a local apartment complex and heard a strange sound coming from the other side of a closed garage door. “I put my ear up to the door and thought, ‘There's a baby in there.’ I honestly thought someone left their kids in the car -- end of story,” she said.

Freeman called 911, but the sounds of crying had stopped by the time officers responded. “But Ms. Freeman was adamant that she heard a child crying,” said Sheriff Gillespie.

Once inside the garage, officers found two toddlers who were bound, gagged, hooded, and strapped into car seats on the garage floor. Police later determined the children had been tied up and left inside the hot garage for two hours by their mothers' boyfriend, who was supposed to be watching the children while she attended night school. “The boyfriend later confessed that he had bound the children and left them so he could go out with his friends,” said Gillespie.

The sheriff said the marks left by the rope and duct tape used were still visible on the children's mouths, throats and hands hours after they were freed by officers. Fortunately, the little boys, ages one and two, were not seriously harmed.

Freeman and the two Metro policemen who responded that day were honored. They’re just some of the men and women Metro commended for going above and beyond the call of duty for the sake of public safety.

In another case, a Metro officer was commended for trying to save the life of a teenage gunshot victim. The boy later died, but his mother says the officer performed CPR long enough to keep her son's organs viable so they could be donated to eight other people who now have a second chance at life.