San Diego Officer Awarded Nation's TOP COP Award For Heroic Rescue
By Rebekah Gonzalez
October 18, 2021
Last week, a San Diego K9 police officer was awarded the TOP COP award in Washington DC for his heroic actions in June of 2020.
According to a tweet from the San Diego Police Department, on October 15, Officer Jonathan Wiese became the only officer in California to receive the award presented by the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO).
Officer Wiese is receiving recognition for rescuing toddlers after their father drove off Sunset Cliffs on the morning of June 13, 2020.
A report from KGTV explained that Wiese first got a call of a suicidal man driving with twin two-year-old girls with the intention of driving off the Coronado Bridge.
Officer Jonathan Wiese was awarded the TOP COP award today in DC for his heroic actions on June 13, 2020! The TOP COP award is presented by the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO).
— San Diego Police Department (@SanDiegoPD) October 16, 2021
He's the only officer in California to receive the award.https://t.co/R4nqglFRfh pic.twitter.com/Av6eK4we7h
Law enforcement was able to track the man's phone to Sunset Cliffs where a lieutenant watched him drive off the cliff at a high rate speed.
The truck landed upside down on top of a rock which would have likely killed the girls had they been in the back seat.
That's when Wiese grabbed a 100 ft. leash, looped it around his waist, "and by then four or five other cops had shown up so I pretty much threw the end of the leash to them, and then I said hang on and I just jumped off."
Wiese's time in the Marine Corps came in handy when he needed to get the family out of the water.
"They taught you how to do water safety rescues and I had a little flashback of okay grab him under the armpit and push him so I swam and held them above water," bringing them to shore alive.