8 Citizens Honored as Heroes by Police Council

Eight Valley-area citizens, a downtown Los Angeles man and a resident of Oregon were honored Thursday by the Mid Valley Community Police Council for their acts of heroism.

In the ceremony at the Airtel Hotel in Van Nuys, each of the honorees received the Lieutenant Governor Commendation; a certificate of recognition from the Los Angeles Police Department, signed by Police Chief Bernard Parks, who attended the event; and a certificate of special congressional recognition at the council’s 19th annual Citizens’ Recognition Luncheon.

“Their actions and their deeds here have contributed to the safety of Van Nuys,” said Val Paniccia, commanding officer of the Van Nuys Community Police Station.

The honorees are:

* Grant and Georgette Martin of North Hills and Burbank resident Rene Fragozo, who on Oct. 18 answered the cries of a woman who had her purse stolen by a 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound man in a Van Nuys parking lot. The Martins and Fragozo physically restrained the suspect, a 31-year-old ex-convict, and contacted authorities.

* Sylmar resident Jesse Mojica, while on duty as a security guard on Oct. 15, 1997, chased after a man who had stolen a gym bag at a North Hills Burger King restaurant. Mojica apprehended and handcuffed the man, who was found to be carrying a knife.

* Michael Voight of Van Nuys, who apprehended a hit-and-run truck driver after chasing the driver in his car in the West Valley on Feb. 28.

* Van Nuys resident Tony Materna, who used his pepper spray to restrain an armed bank robbery suspect in Van Nuys on March 18.

* Robert Cole of downtown Los Angeles and Sherman Oaks resident Neil Leary, who ran after two male juveniles after they observed them stealing a purse from a 74-year-old woman on May 16. Cole and Leary caught the suspects and took them to police.

* Sylmar resident Beth Michelle and John Nasby of Bend, Ore., who assisted a woman who was leaving a battered-women’s shelter in Van Nuys on Nov. 11, 1997. Upon leaving the facility, she was assaulted with a blunt object and kidnapped by her estranged husband. Michelle and Nasby saw the incident and notified authorities. Police caught up to the vehicle and, after a short pursuit, arrested the man.