12 Honored for Their Good Deeds
VAN NUYS — As John Spielmann tells it, there really wasn’t a choice.
Last August, as he drove along Tampa Avenue, he spotted a 13-year-old girl frantically calling for help. “I saw her crying. She said her friend was being attacked,” he recalled. “So, I got out of my car and went with her to find the guy. I didn’t even think twice. I can’t see how anyone would not stop.”
Spielmann, 35, of Valencia, was one of the 12 outstanding citizens of 1995 honored Tuesday by the West Valley Area Police Activity Supporters, a citizens support group known as PALS, at the Annual Police Citizens Recognition Luncheon. Civilians and officers from the Devonshire and West Valley divisions gathered at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys to commend the citizens.
Devonshire Capt. Vance Proctor said he hoped the event dispels a myth about contemporary society.
“There is such a sense of cynicism in society today that people don’t want to get involved,” said Proctor. “The general perception is that people are aloof. This is an indication that shows that is just not true.”
Proctor recounted how Spielmann, with little regard for his own safety, quickly extended his help to the girls, who were grabbed by a partially clothed man while they looking for frogs in a wooded area in Porter Ranch. One girl escaped and flagged down Spielmann, who repairs signs for the city transportation department.
The other girl also escaped, and Spielmann arrived on the scene just in time to see the man flee into a white van. Spielmann drove up behind the van and got the license plate number, giving the police the tie they needed to hunt him down and make an arrest.
Not even gunfire deterred Joseph DeLuca and Dante Bisner. In January 1995, the two men were exiting a Reseda auto parts shop on Vanowen Street when they saw a man grab a woman’s purse and then hop into a waiting car. With Bisner at the wheel, the two men started chasing the suspects’ car. Eventually, both cars reached a red light and stopped.
“I started honking and signaled to them that I knew what they had done, and they started shooting at our car,” said Bisner, who is a painter in Reseda.
Bisner and DeLuca lost track of the car there.
It wasn’t until the suspects stopped their car in front of John Blenkhorn’s house that the two were spotted again. Blenkhorn approached the car to ask what the young men inside were doing, and the men started to shoot again.
“I hit the floor and they ran away,” said Blenkhorn. Police said the two suspects were arrested later, thus ending a two-person crime wave.
Blenkhorn, unlike the other heroes honored Tuesday, is prepared for rough-and-tumble action. He’s a stuntman.
Other tales told at the luncheon included the story of four good Samaritans--David and Christine Clark, Robert Reese, and Frank Bush--who helped injured motorcycle Officer Lawrence Read after a traffic collision.
Russell Spencer, a Devonshire Division volunteer, staked out a burglary suspect’s vehicle at Northridge Fashion Center during Christmastime, wrote down the license plate and gave it to police.
In November, Mario Diaz noticed a man pushing a shopping cart filled with a television and other electronic equipment in his neighbor’s backyard. Diaz flagged down Sgt. Gary Patton, who happened to be driving by through an alley. Patton detained the man immediately. Police later found the neighbor’s house had been ransacked.
Betty Merritt can also tell when something doesn’t look quite right.
When Merritt noticed a stranger parked in a car outside her home, she jotted down the license plate number and called West Valley police. A quick investigation found the license plate was registered to a paroled sex offender who had recently been released from prison after serving time for rape and burglary. Thanks to Merritt, the suspect was arrested for violating parole and later charged in 11 rapes.
“Hopefully, people will remember small acts like Betty’s--just jotting down a license plate--and they’ll be encouraged to do the same thing,” said Capt. Val Paniccia of the West Valley Division.
Gary Washburn thought of his own mother when he saw an elderly couple being robbed at Fallbrook Mall. Washburn began to chase the suspect’s Thunderbird in what turned into a 15-minute, high-speed pursuit. While on the chase, the suspects threw the purse out the window. Washburn found the purse and returned it to the couple.
“It was a crazy thing to do,” said Washburn, a community relations coordinator at Keystone Health, recalling the chase. “It really stressed my wife out.”
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They Reached Out to Help
Dante BisnerReseda
After witnessing a purse snatching, he hopped into his car and chased two suspects, ducking gunshots fired from their car.
John Blenkhorn
Van Nuys
Spotted suspected purse snatchers originally chased by Bisner. Also dodged gunfire.
Frank Bush
Reseda
Helped police officer injured in traffic collision get medical assistance.
Christine Clark
North Hills
Helped police officer injured in traffic collision get medical assistance.
David Clark
North Hills
Helped police officer injured in traffic collision get medical assistance.
Betty Merritt
Woodland Hills
Reported license plate number of suspicious man, whom police found to be an ex-con who had violated his parole. He is a suspect in 11 rapes.
Robert Reese
Reseda
Along with Bush and the Clarks, he helped a police officer injured in traffic collision get medical assistance.
Russell Spencer
Encino
Spotted three men burglarizing a car at Northridge Fashion Center and reported them to the police. The men were caught and convicted.
John Spielmann
Valencia
Assisted two 13-year-old girls who had been attacked in Porter Ranch.
Gary Washburn
Northridge
Chased a purse snatching suspect, retrieved purse and returned it to victim.
Joseph DeLuca
Van Nuys
Joined Bisner in chase of suspected purse snatchers. Along with Bisner and Blenkhorn, helped identify the suspects’ car, which led to their capture.
Mario Diaz
Reseda
Reported suspicious man to police, who later found the man had burglarized a neighbor’s house.
