Ohio CHL-holder honored for saving police officer's life

^{(Photo by Brian Ball, published in Mt. Vernon News)}

Ohio concealed handgun license-holder Dylan DeBoard was honored last week for his action in saving a law enforcement officer's life last year, and Mt. Vernon Police Department Cpl. Michael Wheeler says he thanks every chance he gets.

The Mount Vernon News was first to report on the news:

Wheeler was attempting to apprehend a suspect in the Shirley Avenue/Rose Avenue area June 10, 2015, when things turned bad. According to Wheeler, the suspect was disoriented and very aggressive, and while attempting to place him under arrest, Wheeler got himself into a spot he didn’t want to be. Somehow in the altercation, the suspect was able to gain control and was on top of Wheeler, attempting to take his firearm.

That’s when DeBoard stepped in.

National news outlets including the Washington Times and Inside Edition have picked up the story.

From Inside Edition:

On that day last year, Wheeler’s shoulder microphone had been ripped off in the tussle, so he couldn’t call for back-up. And then the man started going for Wheeler’s gun. And that’s when Wheeler began to think he was running out of options.

“I pulled him in close to me to try to restrict his range of motion,” Wheeler said. But the suspect just kept “trying to reach my belt.”

And right about then, the man sat back and put his hands up. Wheeler wondered ‘What the …?’

He lifted his head and looked in the direction the man was staring. There stood another man, with a gun.

“I didn’t know if he was pointing at me or him,” Wheeler said, meaning the man sitting on him. That’s when DeBoard announced he had a concealed weapon permit.

While the suspect was distracted, Wheeler managed to flip him over and handcuff him.

The homeless man said he’d been high on meth for a couple of days, Wheeler said, and had been sleeping on a homeowner’s porch. She called police, which is how Wheeler wound up wrestling with the suspect.

He was arrested on misdemeanor charges including trespassing, disorderly conduct and malicious mischief.

Cpl. Wheeler told Inside Edition that he wishes, in these strained times between law enforcement and citizens, that there were more people like him.

“I wish a lot more of society would do what he did. There were people standing around, but they were just watching. I kept wondering why people didn’t do anything.”

Wheeler is quoted as saying he thinks of the incident every day, knowing that things could have turned out far, far worse. He often stops by DeBoard’s home, Wheeler said, just to say thanks. “Every time I see him I let him know how much I appreciate what he did.”

Last week, Wheeler was able to reward Dylan DeBoard, the man who saved him, with the city’s Citizen’s Award of Valor.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.