By Larry Smith, Parade Magazine
Critically wounded and unable to draw his weapon, PARADE’s Police Officer of the Year, Sgt. Marcus Young of Ukiah, Calif. refused to give up.
When the Ukiah Police Department needed an officer to fill a patrol shift vacancy on the night of March 7, 2003, Sgt. Marcus Young was happy to volunteer. An administrative sergeant who normally supervised the dispatch center, coordinated training and looked after the schedule, he often worked overtime when another officer was needed on the streets. But this shift would be unlike any other. Before the evening was over, Sgt. Young, 42, would save at least three lives, including his own.
Young was recognized in Los Angeles on Tuesday as Police Officer of the Year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and PARADE Magazine. Ten other outstanding policemen also will be honored.
Young’s ordeal began when he was called to the local Wal-Mart to arrest an 18-year-old female shoplifter. He was accompanied by Julian Covella, then 17, a high school student and police cadet. During the arrest, Young was approached by the shoplifter’s boyfriend, Neal Beckman, 35, a violent felon. When Young told him to take his hands from his pockets, Beckman pulled a knife.
“I told an officer to tell my wife I loved her, because I didn’t think I would get to do it myself.”
Young seized the felon’s arm and twisted it toward his back. Beckman then drew a .38 Smith & Wesson from his jacket, reached across his body and shot Young five times. Bullets pierced his cheek, back and upper arm. Young’s body armor stopped bullets to his chest and back, saving his life.
The assailant’s gun was empty, but he still had a knife when Brett Schott, the store’s unarmed security guard, jumped on his back and knocked him away from Young. Beckman stabbed Schott in the upper chest and ran toward the patrol car, where Young had left his rifle and shotgun.
“I was on my knees in a parking space,” Young recalled. “My right arm was paralyzed, my left hand had a two-inch tear between the index and middle fingers, and I could not draw my gun. I was bleeding profusely.”
As terrified bystanders screamed and ran for cover, Young remained calm. He called Covella—who had just radioed for backup—to his side and asked the cadet to unholster his pistol and place it in his left hand. Young fired four rounds, stopping Beckman before he could grab a firearm from the patrol car and start shooting again.
When help arrived, Young, Schott and Beckman were taken to the local hospital, where Beckman was pronounced dead. Schott recovered from his wounds; Young continues to struggle with pain and weakness in his bullet-riddled upper body.
But he’s alive. “I thought the entire time that I was going to die,” Young recalled. “I told an officer to tell my wife I loved her, because I didn’t think I would get to do it myself.”
For that chance, he thanks Covella and Schott. “They were the real heroes in this situation,” Young said. “They risked their lives to help me, to help an officer out. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.”
Honorable Mentions
Trooper Jason Davis
Georgia State Patrol
Trooper Davis, 24, showed great restraint in his pursuit of a suspect in four murders who had killed his own child and kidnapped three others. Davis safely halted the fleeing vehicle, captured the suspect and rescued the children.
Officer Michael Mauldin
Charlotte/Mecklenburg, N.C.
A triathlete, Officer Mauldin, 44, swam through heavy Atlantic surf to save an 8-year-old boy caught in an undertow. The boy’s father could have drowned in the attempt to rescue his son, but Mauldin sent him back to shore before swimming out to save the child.
Officer Timothy Virden
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Despite a head wound from an assault rifle fired from a fleeing vehicle, Officer Virden, 49, stuck with the pursuit for several miles. His courage and persistence led to the capture of four suspects wanted in a drive-by shooting.
Sgt. Gerald McDevitt
Charleston, S.C.
Unable to enter a burning house because its doors and windows were secured with locks and iron bars, Sgt. McDevitt, 39, kicked an air conditioner unit loose, tugged it out and pulled a little boy to safety before crawling inside to rescue three more confused and terrified occupants, including another small child.
Master Patrol Officer John Sims Jr.
Laurel, Md.
Called to the scene of a domestic dispute, Officer Sims, 41, heard gunfire. After directing numerous bystanders to safety, he came under fire himself. Sims shot and killed the suspect, then provided aid to another woman who had also been injured.
Officer David Tobin
Homewood, Ill.
After anticipating the escape route of three armed robbers, Officer Tobin, 37, withstood heavy fire as he followed their vehicle until it crashed. When the suspects continued to shoot, Tobin wounded two of them and captured one. The others were collared by assisting officers.
Officer Christopher Guadagno
Fort Pierce, Fla.
Through perseverance, dedication and commitment, Officer Guadagno, 36, solved the case of a serial rapist who had been victimizing little girls in the Fort Pierce area.
Officer Sean Kilbreth
Bedford, N.H.
Confronting a suspect in a parking lot, Officer Kilbreth, 33, found himself facing a drawn gun. He refused the suspect’s order to lie down and took a bullet to the hip before managing to shoot and kill his assailant.
Detectives Daniel Whalen and Bryan Kasul
Washington, D.C.
To solve a particularly grisly homicide, Detectives Whalen, 42, and Kasul, 40, carefully secured the crime scene and analyzed it closely. Pursuing every available lead, they tracked down the suspects in just 48 hours and solved several other major crimes in the process.