Augustin Galicia and Sydney Chavez were recognized by Federal Way Police Department Chief Brian Wilson for their efforts in dangerous situations this past year.

Wilson presented both with the “Police Chief Citizen Citation” at the Federal Way City Council’s Dec. 3 meeting, describing the situations that both Galicia and Chavez found themselves in this past year.

“Mr. Galicia was at Steel Lake Park and he was celebrating with a group, a going away party,” Wilson said. “And as they were there, a subject who was intoxicated came into the park and was yelling at a female who was inside her car. The male started hitting and damaging the car, and so his (Galicia’s) response was to call 911 to get police officers there to deal with this particular subject.”

Wilson shared how the situation escalated while police were en route, when the drunken man began physically hitting the woman in the car.

“Augustin, he said, ‘This is unacceptable.’ And he stepped in and addressed that subject, and ended up in a scuffle with him, where he received some injuries on his face and hands…We are convinced that he really saved this victim from further assault, and his willingness to step forward to stop the attack, and to take that action, is just a remarkable example of this citizen, his willingness to step in and what a difference that makes in a very critical and emerging situation.”

“I’m honored to receive this award from the chief of police, and if something like this were to occur in my presence again, I would do it again,” Galicia said after receiving the commendation from Wilson.

Chavez, an 8-year-old who attends Silverlake Elementary, was recognized for her calm handling of what would be a very scary situation for most children.

The girl’s mother had a seizure at home on Nov. 12, Wilson noted.

“This 8-year-old, who was with her 18-month-old twin bothers, made a 911 call. What she did was call 911 before she called her dad, which is exactly what we instruct people to do,” he said. “And the dispatchers were so impressed with how calm she was, giving specific information about what she was seeing, (and) that information was being relayed to the medics and aid units as they were responding.”

“This 8-year-old, Sydney, is credited with saving her mother’s life,” Wilson concluded.