Valor Awards
Leap of faith
A ladder would have been useful for Officer Brian Gay of Sayreville Local 98 when he was the first to respond to a burning home with a family of five trapped inside the upstairs bathroom . After finding the building ’ s only staircase fully engulfed in flames , the former volunteer firefighter and officer of 14 years was guided around the house by a young girl who ’ d managed an escape .
Lifesaving Award and Civilian Gold Medal
Officer Brian Gay Civilian Daniel Hockenjos Sayreville Local 98
“ She ran around the front of the house to meet me ,” Gay explained . “ I asked her if there was any other way to get everybody out . She led me around to the side of the house , where they were all in the bathroom .”
A mother and her four young children were barricaded in the upstairs bathroom an estimated height of 20 feet . Gay quickly instructed two bystanders to find him a ladder , but as the smoke within the house thickened , the trapped family inched closer to the ledge , ready to jump .
Thankfully , Gay did not have to handle this rescue on his own . Civilian Daniel Hockenjos spotted the flames from his residence and ran to Gay ’ s side just in time for the first child to take the leap .
“ Dan was on my right the whole time ,” Gay remembered . “ I was trying to get them to wait a few minutes for me to get the ladder , but they weren ’ t having it . They just started jumping .”
Down came the 12-year-old and then the 9-year-old . Gay and Hockenjos worked together to catch the children and set them aside , where a group of civilians had also gathered to help . Next was the 20-month-old toddler and then an infant of less than a year old strapped tightly in a car seat .
“ I caught ( the car seat ) over my head and handed it off to
someone on my left ,” Gay detailed .
A wooden ladder finally arrived in time for the mother to exit the flaming building . But the obstacles of the rescue continued , as the ladder fell short of the windowsill by about eight feet . That didn ’ t matter to the mother , though . She was ready to escape the heat .
“ Mom came down . She never touched the ladder ,” Gay shared . “ Her knees hit my shoulders . Then I lost my balance and she fell right onto my buddy Dan .”
The force of the mother crashing down on Hockenjos was nothing compared to the weight he and Gay felt lifted , knowing that the blazing structure was finally empty . The volunteer fire department later knocked out the billowing flames , but it was the selfless efforts of this officer-civilian team that saved five lives that day .
Gay and Hockenjos were applauded as lifesaving partners at the 121 Annual Valor Awards Banquet . “ It ’ s a tremendous honor to have been nominated ,” Hockenjos noted . “ Everybody here is a hero .” d
Saved by the cell
Jippey Creighton knows that every day he clocks into a shift at the Mercer County Corrections facility , he should expect the unexpected . The element of surprise has long faded for the 18-year veteran corrections officer . So on April 7 , when Creighton responded to an inmate with deep lateral cuts on
Lifesaving Award
Lieutenant Jippey Creighton Officer Dominique Connors Mercer County Corrections Local 167 & 167A
68 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ DECEMBER 2017
both wrists , the shock of the mutilation caused no hesitation in his response .
“ I knew right then and there that I had to act quick to stop the bleeding ,” Creighton recalled . “ I started wrapping the first arm ,
and that ’ s when Officer Connors arrived .” When Dominique Connors arrived at the cell where she
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