HPD officer decorated
for saving partner

The incident involved
a suspect brandishing
a .22-caliber firearm

Bienvenido Villaflor Jr.: The officer receives the department's Warrior Bronze Medal

Honolulu police officer Bienvenido Villaflor Jr. said his training at the academy kicked in instinctively when a suspect pulled what looked like a handgun on his partner in Kaimuki more than a year ago.

On Sept. 15, 2003, Villaflor drew his weapon and called the suspect, Oliver Tela, to distract him, then fired three times, striking Tela in the shoulder. In recognition of Villaflor's actions, the Police Department honored him with the Warrior Bronze Medal of Valor yesterday during a ceremony at police headquarters.

"It was exactly like a (police) academy scenario," said Villaflor, who joined the department in 2002. "It was one of those things that you don't think will ever happen, but then it did."

Villaflor and his partner, officer Jason Hendricks, were responding to a minor traffic collision near Harding and 6th avenues in Kaimuki on Sept. 15 when they discovered that one of the drivers, Tela, was wanted on a $10,000 bench warrant.

When Tela refused to be arrested, Villaflor said he sprayed Tela with pepper spray three times. Tela ran away and pulled what would later turn out to be a modified BB gun that was able to fire .22-caliber rounds, and aimed it at Hendricks, who was standing about five feet away.

Villaflor -- who is son of Ben Villaflor, state Senate sergeant-at-arms and a former professional boxer -- said at the time he had no idea if the gun was real, fake or modified in any way.

"I was just thinking of the safety of my partner," he said.

Luis Roig: HPD's Civilian Medal of Valor winner rescued a co-worker from a Manoa trail

Police also handed out several civilian awards yesterday, including one for a fitness instructor who risked his life to save a co-worker who fell almost 100 feet during a group hike along Manoa Falls Trail.

On May 23, Luis Roig said he saw his co-worker slipping and tried to grab him when the ground gave away. Both men slid down and came to a stop at a mound of dirt that prevented them from sliding off the cliff.

"On the way down, I was grabbing anything I could, roots, trees, anything," Roig said. "If not for that mound, we would have dropped off."

Using a 25-foot-long piece of rope, Roig slowly made his way back up, tying the rope on roots to secure it, then pulling up the victim a bit at a time. He said he repeated the process six or eight times before they finally made it back up the trail. For his efforts, the Police Department recognized him with the Civilian Medal of Valor, HPD's highest civilian award.

"I don't think of myself as a hero," Roig said. "I'm not trying to be overly modest or anything, but it was a situation that could have happened to anybody."