Carnegie Hero Jamison S. Koczan, 48, died recently.
Koczan received the Carnegie Medal after he rescued a woman from assault in Winter Park, Florida, on June 16, 2014. The woman’s husband had struck her and forced her into a pickup truck where he threatened her with a handgun. The woman screamed for help as the assailant attempted to drive from the parking lot of an office complex. Koczan was at work in one of the nearby buildings when he and a coworker witnessed the attack. They approached the truck and Koczan went to the passenger’s side where he reached into the vehicle. He grasped the woman and pulled her from the assailant’s grasp. The assailant left the vehicle and pointed the gun at Koczan and his coworker. He threatened them and Koczan ran with the woman away from the vehicle as he circled back to his office building. The assailant pursued them. At one point during the chase, Koczan fell. The coworker continued to flee, taking the woman into the building and locking themselves in a private office. Koczan regained his footing and fled into the building. Using the butt of his gun, the assailant broke into the office space and threatened the coworker in the private office, demanding that she release his wife. The coworker refused and the assailant left. He later turned himself into police