Baldwin Police Chief Chris Jones took a moment during Monday’s Baldwin City Council meeting to commend two officers who saved a man’s life.
According to Jones, on the evening of March 2, Corporal Aaron Spivey of the Baldwin Police Department was assisting the Demorest Police Department on a DUI traffic stop.
While on this call, another call was dispatched in Demorest about a physical domestic dispute in progress. Spivey responded to the call, and Officer Jackson Cooter from the Cornelia Police Department assisted.
Once on scene, Spivey and Cooter were advised that the call may actually be a burglary and home invasion. After sorting through the details, the officers determined that the suspect had left the scene.
Spivey and Cooter canvassed the area, during which time Spivey made contact with the suspect at the Exxon convenience store located at the corner of Central Avenue and Florida Street in Demorest. According to Chief Jones, Spivey took the suspect into custody, handcuffing him with his hands behind his back. Cooter assisted in securing the individual in the patrol vehicle.
Situation changes
Before Spivey pulled out of the parking lot, Jones said the suspect began trying to hang himself with the seat belt in the back seat of the patrol vehicle. Jones added that this is a common occurrence when transporting a suspect, where they will twist around and get the seat belt wrapped around their neck.
Spivey pulled over, where he and Cooter untangled the seat belt from the subject’s neck and re-secured him in the vehicle. Due to this incident, Cooter decided to follow Spivey to the jail.
While en route to the jail, the subject did it again. Both officers pulled over, untangled the seat belt, and re-secured the subject. Then, both officers continued to the jail.
While en route, the subject managed to move his cuffs from the back to the front, where he secured the drawstring from his jogging pants. He then tied a knot around his neck with the drawstring.
According to Jones, the subject managed to strangle himself with this action.
Saved a life
At this point, Spivey ran code directly to the hospital. Once at the emergency entrance, Spivey managed to get his fingers between the drawstring and the subject’s neck. Cooter ran into the hospital, retrieved a pair of trauma shears, and returned to cut the drawstring from the subject’s neck.
After the drawstring was cut, the subject spun his head around and drool from his mouth landed in Spivey’s eyes. Chief Jones said at this point in the encounter, the subject informed Spivey that he had just ingested a bag of fentanyl.
Spivey had to be treated at the hospital in the event he may have been exposed to the drug from the saliva.
“Those actions saved that life. He would have died that night,” Chief Jones told the council while making his presentation. “Both of these guys put their lives on the line in a town they don’t even work for. That shows you what they’re willing to do.”
Corporal Aaron Spivey from the Baldwin Police Department and Officer Jackson Cooter from the Cornelia Police Department received a plaque from Chief Jones commending them for their actions.
