Boy Is Among 7 People Honored as Heroes

Seven people were honored Wednesday in Long Beach for acts of bravery ranging from a neighbor rescuing children from abusive parents to a 12-year-old helping to catch a sex offender.

At the quarterly event for courageous residents from southern Los Angeles County, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti presented awards to George Sheppard, 36; Vidal J. Garcia, 30; Vivian Araiza, 38; Robert L. Cole Jr., 28; David G. Ramirez Jr., 13; Grover Slaughter, 38; and Darrell L. London, 46.

In December, after a crash at a busy Long Beach intersection, Sheppard stopped his car to help rescue trapped passengers.

As gasoline poured onto the road, Sheppard eased out three people caught in the wreckage.

This month, Garcia chased an alleged purse snatcher, tailing the man’s car until the suspect crashed into a tree. Garcia got the purse back from the suspect, who fled but was caught by police.

Araiza first heard of an abused child in her Los Angeles neighborhood when her son and daughter told her they had seen a child nearby with a bleeding head. After scouring the neighborhood, Araiza found an injured 9-year-old girl sitting on a neighbor’s porch. The girl’s mother later pleaded guilty to child abuse and was sentenced to five years in prison.

In May, Cole saw two youths throw an elderly woman to the floor and grab her purse in Sherman Oaks. Cole chased and caught one of the suspects, who has since been found guilty of robbery. The other suspect was caught by a second resident, who had also given chase.

In December 1996, Ramirez, then 12, was approached by a man making lewd gestures toward passersby outside a doughnut shop in La Mirada. Ramirez told sheriff’s deputies, who staked out the area and arrested the man, who was later sentenced to five years in prison.

Three months ago, Slaughter chased a robber who, with another man, was stealing television sets from Slaughter’s neighbor. Slaughter cornered the suspect in the neighbor’s garage and struggled with him until police arrived. The suspect has been sentenced to two years in prison. The second suspect escaped.

In November, London chased and tackled an alleged joy-rider in Bellflower who had crashed a stolen Cadillac Seville into a parked car during a police chase.

London held the boy until police arrived.