Medal of Valor Goes to Camarillo Man

A 34-year-old Ventura High School graduate who put his life in the line of fire to help protect fellow Hawthorne police officers was one of eight officers presented with the Medal of Valor by the El Segundo Chamber of Commerce.

Mark Cleavenger of Camarillo was on the force just 10 weeks when, at 9:15 p.m. Dec. 17, he and partner Mark Escalante responded to an armed robbery call in the 14000 block of South Prairie Avenue in Hawthorne. The robber, later identified as Richard Price, had used a .357 revolver to hold up the Song Ho Restaurant and then fled in a white Mercury Cougar.

An officer in an unmarked car spotted Price’s vehicle and pursued it north into Inglewood.

As the robber made his way slowly through Christmas-season traffic, other officers converged. After turning onto a frontage road, the vehicle became blocked in by a car driven by Hawthorne Police Sgt. Donald Shrum. Price jumped from his moving car about 25 feet from Shrum and fired twice at the officer, authorities said.

One round went through Shrum’s windshield and struck the driver’s seat, authorities said. Shrum took cover and was not injured.

Price then turned and fired at the car driven by Escalante, shooting out the driver’s side headlight, Cleavenger said.

Thinking Shrum was shot and fearing for the lives of other officers, Cleavenger, Escalante and four other officers began firing at Price, who was killed in the barrage of gunfire.

Price’s car continued on toward a shopping center filled with holiday shoppers. Hoping to prevent a possible second robber from getting away or bystanders from being hit by the car, Sgt. Michael Lee rammed the vehicle into an unoccupied parked car.

Price was on parole after his third felony conviction for armed robbery, and a conviction in this case would have been his “third strike.”

“He had nothing to lose,” said Cleavenger.

All the officers involved received the South Bay Police and Fire Medal of Valor: Cleavenger, Escalante, Lee, Shrum, Robert Fager, Mark Hayes, Keith Kauffman and Michael Shimkus.

“I’m glad me and my partner survived it,” Cleavenger said. “[Price] was a pretty aggressive guy.”

Cleavenger, a 1980 Ventura High School graduate, and his wife, Becky, have two children, a 4-year-old son, Dillon, , and a 1-year-old daughter, Dana.

“They’re the reason why I concentrate so much on officer safety,” Cleavenger said.