Warren, Michigan, Mayor Lori M. Stone presented the Carnegie Medal to Warren Police officers Daniel Rose, right, and David Chapman, left, at the Warren City Hall on Nov. 21.
Rose and Chapman were awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism after crawling under a live power line to retrieve an unconscious 8-year-old boy who had been electrocuted by the downed line on Aug. 30, 2022.
“What happened was not a scenario everybody could imagine ever encountering. What happened that day is as real as it gets. Life and death is a split second decision with a child’s life hanging in the balance,” said Charles Rushton, interim police commissioner for the city of Warren.
The power line was hanging hazardously low about 5 feet above the street when the boy, his friend, and older brother came upon the scene. The boys approached the wire, and the 8-year-old grabbed onto it with both hands, where he then fell unconscious. Rose and Chapman received the call across their radios and went to the scene. The boy laid under the live line as Rose went to his hands and knees and crawled beneath the power line. He grasped the boy’s left ankle as Chapman crouched under the power line and grabbed the boy’s other ankle. They pulled the boy away from the power line when Rose felt an electrical charge in his arm. Chapman also felt his hand burning. They released the boy but returned to render first aid. When the boy regained consciousness, the two men and an accompanying officer took the boy to a nearby hospital. The boy sustained serious injuries, including burns on both hands. Rose was examined at the hospital and had numbness in his right arm from the electrical shock for a few hours. He recovered. Chapman was examined at the hospital but did not require treatment.
“That day was something none of us want to ever have to do, or ever have to make that decision,” said Rose at the presentation. “I’m glad we have people, and I work with people, that were able to make that decision, and we’d do it all over again.”
“First I want to say thank you to my wife for having my back,” said Chapman. “This is not easy what we do, it’s just we just do it and I want to thank you to the Warren Police Department for giving me an opportunity to show that I’m capable of doing this.”