Police in Tempe, Arizona, honored a player from the New England Patriots who, they said, saved an elderly woman from being sexually abused in the city over the weekend.
Police said Justin Herron, a 1.80-meter, 130-pound offensive striker on the team, was working in a park in Tempe on Saturday morning when he heard someone shouting for help.
Herron told police that he found a man, Kevin Caballero, 30, attacking a 71-year-old woman and threatening to rape her.
Police said Herron and another local resident approached Caballero and held him until police arrived at the scene.
“At that time, I was in shock,” said Herron, according to USA Today. “It was 11 am, in the middle of the day, in a very open field and the fact that it happened there at that time was very shocking. I wish I could tell you what I was thinking, but I could tell that someone needed help “All I could do was run over there to make sure I could help the victim and comfort him and be the best person I can be.”
For their quick thinking, Herron and the other man who helped him were awarded the Tempe Police Department’s “Outstanding Service” award.
“I am a football player, I am a bit big. I try not to be too aggressive towards people, knowing that I can hurt someone,” said Herron. “I have a loud voice. I screamed, told him to get off it and then I pulled it out and told him to sit down and I told him to wait until the cops arrived.”
The woman, who was not seriously injured, was taken to a local hospital and treated.
The second man, Murry Rogers, said that neither he nor Herron knew the attacker before the incident.
“I’m almost twice as old as Justin,” Rogers said, according to the newspaper. “So I did my best to resolve the situation and help in whatever way I could. We were shouting at him to leave. As soon as the attacker got off the victim, we looked at each other and said, ‘We have to make sure he doesn’t goes nowhere. ‘A lot of effort has been made to make sure he sits down, doesn’t move and waits for the police. “