WESTLAKE VILLAGE : 3 to Be Honored for Heroic Deeds
A 12-year-old student at Colinas Intermediate School in Thousand Oaks will receive an award from the Conejo Future Foundation today for saving the life of a choking 9-year-old boy.
Jeff Howard, who was a sixth-grader at Westlake Elementary School in March, 1990, used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge a piece of candy from a friend’s throat, said Carolyn Kopp, president of the foundation.
Jeff, one of the youngest recipients of the foundation’s annual citizenship awards, was chosen from 12 nominees, Kopp said. Citizenship awards have been given out since 1983 by the foundation, which studies growth and development in eastern Ventura County and neighboring Los Angeles County.
Two men also will receive citizenship awards for bravery in helping others.
Rafael Ariztia, 26, of Westlake Village, and Derian Drickersen, 23, of Newbury Park, were painting a Westlake Village house in April, 1990, when a neighbor requested their help in investigating suspicious noises in her home.
The men caught two burglars in the house and held them until they were arrested by sheriff’s deputies.
The three will be honored at a 5:30 p.m. ceremony at the First Neighborhood Community Center in Westlake Village.
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