After arriving at the scene of a serious shooting near the Midtown Greenway last May, Minneapolis police officer Justin Reisdorfer automatically went into rescue mode.
He began doing CPR on the victim, Trejon Sands, while another officer stabilized Sands' head, and together they revived the 23-year-old long enough for him to take a few breaths. Sands was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died from his injuries.
A week later, Reisdorfer encountered another shooting victim, applying a tourniquet to the man's leg to stop massive bleeding from a gunshot wound near the femoral artery. This time, the victim lived.
"Because of Officer Reisdorfer's actions in trying to save this person's life, I am proud to present him with the Lifesaving Award," Assistant Police Chief Mike Kjos said in describing the first incident.
Because of his quick thinking, Reisdorfer was twice recognized at the department's award ceremony at City Hall on Tuesday, where lifesaving was the theme of the day. He was one of 28 city and park police officers who received the Lifesaving Award, joining dozens of other colleagues who were recognized for acts of heroism on the job.
In the investigations category, officers Ross Lapp and Ricardo Muro, and Homeland Security Investigations special agent Chad Visger were singled out for their role in a sprawling, yearslong investigation — involving wiretaps, undercover drug buys, surveillance and months of poring through phone records — of a major local drug trafficking operation, with ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The probe, which dates as far back as 2011, eventually led to the indictment of the crew's reported mastermind, Carlos Serrato, and 12 others, and the seizure of 432 pounds of methamphetamine, 48.4 pounds of cocaine and 28.5 pounds of heroin — a haul with an overall estimated street value of $7.1 million — as well as various firearms, officials said.
Four civilians also received honors. The other recipients were:
• Chief's Award of Merit: Officers Jason Andersen, James Boyd, John Ochs; chaplains Joan Austin, Makram El-Amin, David Engman, Charles Graham, Linda Koelman, Alma Landley-Ward, Dave Larson, Sean Lee, Michael Lynch, Brett Miller, Nathaniel Orr, Carl Valdez; Pastor Roxy Lynch; and civilians Christine Engman and Shanna McArthur.
• Citizen's Department Award of Merit: Heidi Buegler and Michael O'Malley.
• Lifesaving Award: Minneapolis officers Angel Arevalo, Kelly Damon, Benjamin Fadell, Christopher Flack, Joseph Foxley, Hillary Glasrud, Brian Graupner, Ibrahim Jedal, Geoffrey Johnson, Ashish Joshi, Jason Kiritschenko, Tyler Klund, Dominic LaNasa, Jackson McLaughlin, Ryan Miller, Dennis Milner, Chou Moua, Shivani Nash, Lucas Oachs, Marcus Ottney, Garrett Parten, Chelsey Permenter, Jeffrey Peterson, Myron Phernetton, Reisdorfer (2), Michael Wegner (2); Park officers Andrew Heinen and Andrew Klein.
• Excellence in Investigation Award: Sgts. John Biederman and Jeffrey Waite; officers Kristopher Dauble, Danielle Evans, Jason Schmitt, Lapp, and Muro; and Visger.
• Citizen's Lifesaving Award: Chris Montbriand and Bradley Peper.
• Medal of Commendation: Officers Maiya Cain, Teena Curry, Benjamin Fadell, Jeremy Riley and Jeremiah Smedsrud.
• Citizen's Award of Valor: Andrew Herberg.
Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter: @StribJany
