Medal for Heroism

Officer Jose Lara
Chico Police Department

On March 15, 2004, at about 9:45 p.m., 34-year-old Christopher Berry entered Enloe Medical Center to see his son who had undergone surgery. Berry had been to the hospital twice that day and was asked to leave both times for being belligerent and arguing with his son’s mother and to the hospital staff. Upon Berry’s third return to the hospital, he immediately became boisterous and demanded to see his son. Berry was once again denied access to his son and asked to leave the premises. Berry refused to leave and two security guards responded to escort him out. This time, Berry was adamant about staying.

As the security guards approached, Berry pulled out a loaded 9mm handgun and pointed it at several hospital employees while ordering the guards to get down. He quickly moved the unarmed security guards down a hallway to an area near two banks of elevators to make his stand. There, he dragged one of the guards to the ground, forcing him to lie on the ground and made the second guard stand facing a wall.

Chico Police were called and responded in force. They immediately cut off his escape routes and shut down the elevators, moving into vantage points. Chico Police Lieutenant Ed Port, Officer Eric McManus and Officer Mark Snellgrove each attempted to talk Berry down and convince him to surrender peacefully. Berry remained stubborn, refusing to surrender until he could see his son. He did, however, release one of the guards but kept the second guard hostage. During the stand-off, Berry referred to himself as “John Q” several times, referring to the movie John Q that starred Denzel Washington.

After approximately 40 minutes, Officer Jose Lara took over negotiations. Officer Lara had dealt with Berry in the past and felt that perhaps Berry would be able to reason with someone with whom he’d had a history. Lara was positioned in the hallway area and had a visual of the guard’s legs but could not see Berry. In a matter of 15 minutes, Officer Lara was able to talk Berry down. Berry pushed the guard away, threw his gun down and surrendered to Jose without incident.

Officer Lara placed himself in danger by positioning himself in the hallway without cover so that he could speak to Berry in hopes of defusing this most volatile situation. His calming demeanor coupled with his ability to effectively talk down an irate man with a gun who was holding a hostage undoubtedly avoided this volatile situation from turning deadly.

Officer Lara’s act of bravery during this most intense situation is to be commended and reflects honorably on the Chico Police Department.

The Golden Badge Foundation is proud to recognize Officer Lara for his bravery that went above and beyond the call of duty by presenting him with the Medal for Heroism.

Medal for Heroism

Officer Donald Benstead & Officer Mark Stafford
Palm Springs Police Department

On September 3, 2004, Officers Donald Benstead and Mark Stafford were on patrol in a marked police unit in downtown Palm Springs. At approximately 12:10 p.m., they conducted a traffic stop on a Ford Taurus in a Big 5 parking lot at South Palm Canyon Drive and Baristo Road. The vehicle had been linked to an ongoing drug investigation by their Narcotics detectives.

During their investigation of the two men inside the vehicle, it was discovered that both had warrants for their arrest. Officer Stafford asked the driver to exit his vehicle. As the driver stepped out of the driver’s door, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handgun. As the suspect raised the handgun, attempting to point it at Officer Benstead, Officer Stafford began struggling with him. Officer Benstead had pulled his gun on the suspect but was unable to shoot without risk of hitting his partner.

Realizing that his partner was beginning to lose control of the determined suspect, Officer Benstead yelled for him to push the suspect away. As Officer Stafford pushed the suspect away from his body, the suspect raised the gun to shoot Benstead. Officer Benstead, seeing no other option, fired on the suspect before he could get a shot off, killing him.

The second suspect was taken into custody without incident for his $10,000 warrant and further investigation lead to the recovery of 100 grams of methamphetamine from the suspect’s vehicle.

Officers Benstead and Stafford were placed into a deadly situation with only a split second to react. Their ability to quickly respond to the suspect’s threat, maintain a clear mind and work well together as a team is the only reason the suspect died in this confrontation and not the officers.

For their bravery that went above and beyond the call of duty during this incident, the Golden Badge Foundation is proud to honor Officer Donald Benstead and Officer Mark Stafford with the Medal for Heroism.