Georgia Sheriff Rewards Inmates Who Saved Guard's Life With Slashed Sentences

UPDATE ― Jun. 22: A Georgia sheriff is rewarding the inmates who saved their prison guard’s life with something extra special: Shortened sentences for each of them.

“Anytime we have a trustee or inmate crew, that goes beyond normal duties, we cut them some extra time off,” Polk County Sheriff Johnny Moats told WXIA on Wednesday,

Each inmate will have his sentence reduced by about 25 percent.

PREVIOUSLY:

When a Georgia deputy suddenly collapsed while on duty, the six inmates he had been supervising could have made a run for it. But they chose instead to save the officer’s life.

The group of inmates were out on a work detail last Monday in a remote area of Polk County when their supervising officer, who has not been identified, suddenly fell face-first on the ground, WXIA-TV reports.

Polk County Sheriff Johnny Moats said the inmates could have easily taken the officer’s gun at that point and escaped in his van.

“They could have done anything they wanted,” Moats told Time. “They were out there by themselves with this one officer. If they would have left him there, it could have been hours before anyone came across him.”

Instead, the inmates rushed to revive the deputy. The group opened the officer’s shirt and removed his bulletproof vest to keep him cool. The humidity that morning had reportedly reached 100 percent.

The inmates also used the officer’s phone to call 911. Emergency medical services soon arrived on the scene.

The inmates have been credited with helping to save the officer’s life. The deputy, who’s believed to have collapsed due to the humidity and a previous medical condition, has reportedly recovered and is now back at work,

“They stayed right there with him,” Moats told Time. “If he didn’t have any help, I don’t know what would have happened to him.”

The sheriff’s office said the incident was especially meaningful given that Georgia prison guards Christopher Monica and Curtis Billue were killed on June 13, allegedly by two inmates escaping a prison bus.

“As we watched the horrific manhunt this week of the two inmates that killed two correctional officers, we all know that Monday could have ended differently for our officer,” wrote the sheriff’s office in a since-removed Facebook post.

But the inmates involved in the officer’s rescue, all of whom all serving sentences for minor criminal offences, said there was never any question of the path of action they would take.

“When that happened, in my opinion, it wasn’t about who is in jail and who wasn’t,” inmate Greg WIlliams told WXIA. “It was about a man going down, and we had to help him.”

As a token of gratitude, the officer’s family prepared lunch and desserts for the inmates last week, WSB-TV reported.

“The inmates did a really good job. I’m extremely proud of them,” Moats said.

Related...

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<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">Those brave enough to be themselves, and fight for their rights. Photo by <a href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/69573586" target="_blank">Shell Sheddy/Eyeem.</a></span></p>

Those brave enough to be themselves, and fight for their rights. Photo by Shell Sheddy/Eyeem.

<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3a68201a-2dbd-059f-2fe7-ad5c01b2b5a5"><span style="font-size: 13.3333333333333px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">I decided to take [on] a project at a special needs institute ...close to where I live in Pakistan. ...The kids were amazing, and their strength of character had a profound affect on me. ...The child in the photo was using the handlebars to help him walk and achieve balance and mobility. In a society where there are so many stigmas, misunderstanding, a lack of public facilities and government support, the everyday lives of these children are so difficult that it&rsquo;s incredibly inspiring when you see them rise above it and meet the challenges that lie in their way head on. What could be more heroic than that? Photo by Usman Ahmad/Eyeem.</span></span></p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I took this shot in Kuakata, Bangladesh. The shot was taken at the very early morning. The man is there as early as dawn, struggling to capture fish to feed his family. ...I consider him as a hero. Photo by</span><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/69962157"> <span style="font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Shamim Shorif Susom/Eyeem.</span></a></p>
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Rory was my hero because she was never afraid to venture out into the world and explore, even when danger was all around her. Photo by Cruz Shirtz/Eyeem.

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<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3a68201a-2dbe-8a11-05ad-93d4447ea735"><span style="font-size: 13.3333333333333px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">My boy went bravely through surgery and was my hero in that moment. Photo by Simon </span><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/45427261"><span style="font-size: 13.3333333333333px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">Gruenenwald/Eyeem. </span></a></span></p>

My boy went bravely through surgery and was my hero in that moment. Photo by Simon Gruenenwald/Eyeem.

<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">This hero left his country to support the family back home. Photo by <a href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/68223175" target="_blank">Cesar Deutschmann/Eyeem.</a></span></p>

This hero left his country to support the family back home. Photo by Cesar Deutschmann/Eyeem.

<p><span style="font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the photo you can see my husband and my son -- father and child. My husband ... succeeds, in spite of the hard work each week, to devote his time to his own son. ...My son, Guy, manages to get us to leave the routine and enjoy the magical moments together. Thanks to him we appreciate these humble and special moments. Photo by</span><a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/69455685"> <span style="font-size: 13.333333333333332px; font-family: Arial; color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dina Alfasi/Eyeem.</span></a></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">This shot represents who my heroes have become -- my two boys.&nbsp;Kaden and Cash (my son featured in this </span><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">photo) inspire me daily to enjoy the life that God has given us, to smile as big as possible and to explore every nook and cranny of this amazing planet.&nbsp;... Taking my boys on adventures has opened a whole new world to me, one that is more enjoyable and inspiring than&nbsp;anything else I've known&nbsp;before. This photo is a direct result of being inspired by my&nbsp;boys to put the "adults things" on hold, and to go exploring instead.&nbsp;Relationships are what matter, and my heroes remind me of that every day. Photo by <a href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/42580876" target="_blank">Eygabroad/Eyeem</a></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">What you see in the picture is how Filipinos help one another -- commonly called as "Bayanihan." The Bayanihan (pronounced as buy-uh-nee-hun) is a Filipino custom derived from a Filipino word &ldquo;bayan&rdquo;, which means nation, town or community. The term bayanihan itself literally means "being in a bayan&rdquo;, which refers to the spirit of communal unity, work and cooperation to achieve a particular goal. Photo by <a href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/69983449" target="_blank">Daryl Salazar/Eyeem.</a></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">This photo shows a young lady wearing a pink jacket ... protesting in the crowd against violence to women and girls. Those attending the event were encouraged to wear pink, and hundreds of men joined as well! Discriminatory laws against women persist in every corner of the globe and new discriminatory laws are enacted. ...This great lady, [and] many others, are combating injustice and discrimination against women....SHE IS My Hero! Photo by <a href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/68818937" target="_blank">Takaya wafa/Eyeem.</a></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">Of two sisters one is always the watcher, one the dancer. (Louise Gl&uuml;ck) - These two wonderful and sweet girls are my&nbsp;unlikely heroes. I'm so proud and happy that I have the pleasure to accompany them while they grow up and conquer the world. It's so amazing to see the world through their eyes. And yes, the older one is the watcher and the younger one is the dancer, a really wild dancer. And as a team of superheros with their combined superpowers they are mostly unbeatable. Photo by <a href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/69737423" target="_blank">Daniel Anhutl/Eyeem.</a></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-319f77da-2dd5-544e-6a82-2c83200f9703"><span style="font-size: 13.3333333333333px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline;">My boy just started swimming lessons three weeks ago. This shot was taken on his first day of class. He was quite unhappy to be in the water with strangers. He was crying ...&nbsp;</span></span></span><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333333333333px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">His swimming teacher did such an amazing job. They communicated well with him and did their best to make him feel comfortable as he can in the water.&nbsp;</span><span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.3333333333333px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;">His swimming teacher is an unlikely of hero because ... he helped my son to trust in him; he will not let him fall and helped my boy's confidence that he can do it.</span><span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: #ffffff;"> Photo by </span><a style="font-family: arial, sans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" href="https://www.eyeem.com/p/69836379" target="_blank">Lynette Wong/Eyeem.</a></p>
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