Two Denver police officers will be lauded Wednesday for “for going above and beyond the normal call of duty” to help a man with Alzheimer’s disease last year.
Officer Hana Ruiz was the first to answer a call about an elderly man who seemed lost and disoriented on June 29, police said. She soon learned he had left his home in Virginia and gotten off the bus in Denver a few days earlier.
He had no money and could not cash a check. Concerned, Ruiz called his bank in Virginia and tracked down the man’s caretaker, and they worked together to have money wired to Denver for a plane ticket.
She also used her own money to find him a place to stay and buy him food.
The next day, Ruiz asked Officer Rob Martinez to help get the man dressed and to the airport on time. Martinez saw the man’s clothes were in poor condition from days of traveling, and Martinez bought him new clothes.
When the man, who was not named, could not board a plane home “due to unforeseen difficulties,” Ruiz and Martinez quickly made other plans. Ruiz bought him a bus ticket and found someone to accompany him on the trip.
The officers again used their own money to make sure the man had food for the long trip home, and ensured his case worker was waiting to pick him up in Virginia, Denver police stated today in an announcement of the recognition ceremony.
The department cited the officers’ “compassion, creativity and tireless work ethic.”
“They responded to a person in need with the highest level of customer service this department can deliver.”
Ruiz and Martinez will receive Citizens Appreciate Police awards, given by a nonprofit group of the same name that is independent from the department.
The ceremony will be at 11 a.m. in the District 1 Police Station community room at 1311 W. 46th Ave.
