COBB — Applause filled the room after Lake County District Attorney Don Anderson and Chief District Attorney Investigator Craig Woodworth presented civilian Gilberto Lopez and Lake County Sheriff”s Deputy Lyle Thomas with awards to honor heroic actions.
Dressed in civilian clothing, law enforcement officers from several agencies blended in with their civilian families, much like Lopez blended into law enforcement duties in October of last year.
The men were honored Friday night during the Lake County Peace Officers Association monthly dinner for separate incidents during which they both potentially saved a person”s life.
Modest in praise, both men declared each other as their heroes and said that they did what they think most people would do in those situations.
Thomas was presented with a plaque from the Lake County District Attorney”s Office and a Medal of Valor for his actions on May 15 when he shielded a woman from what he believed at the time was fire from a semi-automatic-style rifle.
“A lot of people, including a lot of sheriff”s officers would have ducked. They would have gotten out of the way. Lyle didn”t,” Anderson said.
“It was a lazy day, it was the last part of the evening and I figured I”d just handle this detail and go home,” Thomas said.
When Thomas arrived at the Clearlake Oaks home where a woman had reportedly been shot, he approached the woman. At that moment, Robert Scott Hisel, 52, allegedly opened the door to his home and raised a pellet gun that resembled an assault type rifle. Thomas reportedly shielded the woman from the shots and then rushed to her to safety.
“You”re going from an emotion where you think that you”re basically going to die onto another emotion when you know that you”re not and you still have a job to do,” Thomas said.
Hisel later shot at Thomas again with another pellet gun, this one resembling a handgun. At this time, Thomas fired his weapon and injured Hisel. The exchange led to a standoff with authorities, including a SWAT team, that lasted more than five hours.
Hisel pleaded guilty to assault on a peace officer with a weapon other than a firearm and a separate charge of possession of a firearm while being a convicted felon in September.
“I don”t think I”m deserving of anything, but I”m humbled by it,” Thomas said.
Lopez, 34, received the Lake County District Attorney Citizen Valor Award for helping California Highway Patrol Officer Erica Coddington fight off Walter Ossenberg, who was reportedly trying to reach for Coddington”s gun.
Coddington had reportedly pulled off the side of the road to assist Ossenberg on Highway 29 near the Twin Lakes Subdivision on Oct. 24, 2012.
Lopez said that at first, he drove by and saw what appeared to be a routine traffic stop.
“I took a second glance back over and that”s when I noticed him grab her by her neck and slam her to the ground,” Lopez said.
Lopez then stopped and headed to Coddington”s aid.
“It was just, slam on the breaks and go,” he said.
Lopez approached Coddington and Ossenberg and yelled something he cannot remember at them when he was approaching, he said. At that moment, Ossenberg turned and Coddington had enough time to pull out her weapon and shoot Ossenberg. He was declared dead at the scene.
According to the DA”s Office, which declared Coddington”s actions justified, Osssenberg was homeless after his release from the Orange County Jail on Oct. 3. Ossenberg drove to Lake County from San Francisco in a stolen 2010 Toyota Camry after he reportedly stole contents from a woman”s backpack on the Golden Gate Bridge.
According to the report, Officer Coddington stopped to assist Ossenberg, but noticed Ossenberg was intoxicated. He was later found to have a .22 blood alcohol content. When Coddington called in dispatch for information on Ossenberg, she found that he had a no-bail felony warrant. Ossenberg realized Coddington had that information and allegedly decided to attack her.
Lopez said he didn”t think about his actions when he stopped to help and was merely reacting to a situation in which someone needed help.
“From the time after I got out of the car until I heard the gunshot, I didn”t hear anything,” Lopez said. “After the gunshot is when you start hearing cars go by, and when you start hearing Erica screaming on the radio.”
It wasn”t until after he got home to his kids that he realized the severity of the situation.
“I thought, ?wow, this could have gone wrong,”” he said.
Isaac Brambila is an associate editor for Lake County Publishing. Reach him at 263-5636 ext. 37 or at ibrambila@record-bee.com.
