LTC 059-2006 L.E.O. Award Recipient - Detective Gustavo SanchezMIAMI BEACH
OmCE crn'
NO. LTC :/tK)59-2006 LE'I-rER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager ~'/~/,~/
DATE: March 3, 2006
SUBJECT: L.E.O. Award Recipient- Detective Gustavo Sanchez
This Letter to the City Commission is to announce the selection of Detective Gustavo
Sanchez as the Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police's Officer of the Year for
2005.
This prestigious award was given in recognition of the heroic efforts by Detective Gustavo
Sanchez on June 12, 2005. Detective Sanchez responded from an off-duty job to the report
of drowning in progress off the beach behind 100 Lincoln Road. The seas on this date were
forecast to be eight to ten feet high with the winds blowing at twenty knots and gusting up to
thirty knots due to Tropical Storm Arlene.
Despite these extremely dangerous conditions, DeteclNe Sanchez did not hesitate to put his
own life at risk by immediately responding to the scene and going into the water to attempt to
rescue two Russian exchange students who had become overwhelmed by the violent surf
and became entangled in a riptide. Detective Sanchez was able to locate one of the victims
and bring her to shore while an off-duty life guard, Cayetano Garcia, joined the rescue effort
and was able to locate the second victim with the assistance of the Coast Guard. By the
time this tremendous rescue effort was concluded, the weather conditions also required that
the Coast Guard rescue two additional rescuers on the scene.
Detective Sanchez is a nineteen year veteran of the Miami Beach Police Department and is
currently assigned to the Cdminal Investigations Division, afternoon shift Violent Cdmes
Squad. Please join me in congratulating Detective Sanchez for this tremendous
achievement.
JMG\DWD\tr
F:~mgr/$alFLTC2006/LEO Award Gus Sanchez.doc