NORWOOD, Ohio — A Norwood police officer was honored Friday night after he saved two lives in less than two months. Officer Robert Town said the two incidents took place in a matter of seconds – and it was his own instincts that helped saved two people’s lives.
On January 13, he responded to a woman in distress on the Montgomery Road overpass. He said he could see her feet were off the ground, and lifted up on the railing.
“At that time, another officer was coming southbound on Montgomery,” Town said. “He flipped his sirens on to go through the intersection. That caught her attention. I ran up and grabbed her. Pulled her down”
In a matter of seconds, because of his quick thinking, a woman’s life was saved.
“In the moment, it’s just kind of reactionary,” Town said.
Less than two months later, on March 6, Officer Town and another sergeant responded to a house fire.
“Dispatch advised they could hear someone inside yelling for help,” Town said. “They tried the front door – couldn’t get it open. At that point we’re thinking – someone is in there, we have to get in there.“
Without fire protective gear, he kicked the door down and helped a 14-year-old boy get out of the burning house.
“He was covered in soot. It was so smokey. I thought he was a grown man and directed him out,” Town said. “He told me there was another person in the house, his dad was in there. I tried to look in with the flashlight. So thick, I could only see a foot or two.”
The boy’s father died inside the home. Town said he did everything he could.
“Every single guy on that shift that night was flying to the house I just happened to be the first one there,” he said. “Anyone that got there first would’ve done the same thing I did.”
Town downplayed any sort of heroic action, saying it was another day of doing what he can to help the community.
“It’s just doing my job,” he said. “I don’t really see it as something going above and beyond. That’s what we’re expected to do. That’s what we put the uniform on to do. We get into this job, for the most part, for selfless reasons. To do, sort of, things like this. Every once in a while, you happen to be in the right place at the right time.”
